


Star Wars: A New Order

by hopelikethesun



Series: Star Wars: A New Order Universe [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - The Rise of Skywalker Doesn't Exist, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Coming of Age, Epic Battles, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen, Introspection, M/M, Multi, Novel, Original Character(s), Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Romance, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 69,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelikethesun/pseuds/hopelikethesun
Summary: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....  Star Wars — Episode IX —A NEW ORDERAt the rebel base on the moon of Ajan Kloss, the Resistance works to increase their odds. In the aftermath of their defeat, they have worked to increase their own forces — strengthening their chances with newly improved technology to avoid First Order fleets. Hope lives so long as General Organa remains.But unrest looms. Whispers of an uprising spread across the airwaves as something wicked stirs at the horizon. Rey and her friends are forced to face their own battles and finish what has begun within them.Supreme Leader Kylo Ren scours the galaxy for coveted Sith artefacts, seeking to bring ultimate power to the First Order. Following their victory at Crait, the First Order has pushed the spark of the Resistance into the darkest edges of the galaxy in hopes of finally extinguishing them once and for all.
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Star Wars: A New Order Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672996
Comments: 118
Kudos: 131
Collections: Reylo





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In the aftermath of the release of "Rise of Skywalker" I decided to undertake an effort to create my own version of Episode IX. There were elements of the storyline that I greatly enjoyed, ones that I wished had been expanded upon further. Some of those elements remain in this story. Outside of those elements I have attempted to pick up the story several months after "The Last Jedi", utilizing some of the stories that took place between "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker". 
> 
> If Reylo or Finnpoe are not your preferred ships, then I would not recommend this story to you. As a general rule, this story remains PG-13. There will be no rating changes. 
> 
> Aside from all of those formalities, I have already written a considerable amount of this story and will be posting updates on a schedule. I hope you enjoy! As Carrie Fisher once said, "Take your broken heart, make it into art."

_Remorse_. He had forgotten what that emotion felt like. It was a slowburn. A cauterized wound that reopened with each new kill. The death was part of war. It was part of the world that he was forced into from the moment he was born. A Jedi Killer who killed no Jedis. An image built on the ruins of lies, myths propagated throughout the galaxy, stories born to turn a mere man into a monster. He was the very weapon he wielded. A Jedi’s lightsaber is an extension of themselves, an intimate bond between the saber and its master. His own crossguard had been forged like he had been forged. Full of potential but fractured, spitting out angry plasma. Unstable. Fragile. _Him_. 

Kylo Ren grunted as he drove the blade into the attacking cultist. He was exhausted. So _kriffing_ exhausted. Another cultist charged him, caught him off guard as he drew his saber from the one he’d just killed. He was struck sharply across the jaw by a club, sending him stumbling backwards. 

He reached up to touch his jaw, staring down at fresh blood that came away, glistening on his black gloves. Kylo readjusted his grip on his saber, reigniting and driving it down into the helmet of the cultist. 

“This way, Supreme Leader.” One of the Sith Trooper said crisply, standing at attention. “The signature is leading us towards the ruins.” 

“I know.” He snapped sharply as he returned his saber to his hip. Kylo Ren’s gaze lingered on the massacred cultists, smoke rising from smoldering remains — the scent of death burning thickly in his nostrils. Remorse? How could he feel any remorse towards these extremists? Worshiping the Sith that had killed _thousands_ of innocent people. They deserved to be put down. He was doing the galaxy a favor. 

A favor that would be one day returned, he had no doubt. 

* * *

“When did you come up with this?” Poe questioned as he looked over the schematics and figures Rose had spread out on the floor of her quarters. “This is brilliant.” He remarked, running his finger along a line connecting two points, his brows furrowing as he considered what a jump like that would do to the systems.

“I know.” Rose said before Poe had a chance to point out the minor issue in her plans. “It’s a risky jump every time, but it _can_ be done. Calculations have to be precise. Straight into the gravitational curve to compensate.” 

“Takes the pressure of the trajectory shift.” Poe leaned back and propped his elbow up on his knee, looking between Rose and the plans. “Was this what you were working on in Batuu?” 

Rose nodded her head. “Finn and I started talking about the systems the First Order had in place to track ships. His knowledge was pretty limited, but I was able to salvage some data from wreckage one of reconnaissance teams brought back. It helped me map out what they were using to get a lock on the coordinates of hyperjumps. Hopefully we can start implementing this soon. Test in the real world.” 

“It’s good,” Poe said with a nod. “It’s progress. Gives us the advantage.” He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, brows furrowed like he had something to say, but he wasn’t saying it.

Rose waited and anticipated that she was about to hear him pick apart her hyperdrive modifications. Despite his encouragement, she’d had enough of an uphill battle with some of the other mechanics who thought she’d gotten too cocky after her adventures with Finn. She’d buddied up to General Organa’s inner circle. Which was banthashit. “Do you have something to say Poe?”

“No.” He said far too quickly, eyes snapping to stare at her. “I guess, yeah. Yeah I do have something to say. You and uh… Finn?”

Rose covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “No. I care for him a lot and _maybe_ if things were different we might’ve been something, but.” She gave Poe a pointed look. “He has his eyes set on someone else.”

“ _Really_?” 

“Who knew Poe Dameron is a gossip.” Rose grinned at the man. “All I can say is it’s someone he’s known since he defected.” 

Poe’s expression fell briefly, before he quickly hid it behind a well practiced mask. “It’s Rey isn’t it? I could see that, I guess.” He looked back down at her plans, “These are good. I’m going to take these to General so she can put the requests in to start making these modifications tomorrow.” 

Finn was going to kill her. It was bad enough that he apparently thought that she and Poe were together. Sure, they were always together. But the same could be said about Poe and Finn. If you wanted to find one, just find the other. 

“Poe, wait—” Rose insisted, before Poe had a chance to finish rolling up her plans. “It’s not Rey.” 

“Is it BB-8?” Poe questioned with a chuckle. “I should’ve known.” 

Rose stared at the pilot in complete frustration. “You portray yourself to be such a brilliant man and yet…” She shook her head. “I’m fairly certain everyone knows except you.” 

Poe finished rolling the plans up, giving Rose a curious look that she didn’t quite believe. “Whatever you say, Rose. I’ll let you know once these get approved.” With a short nod, Poe excused himself from her quarters — leaving her alone to start working on her next set of plans. 

* * *

Rey felt a heavy burden on her soul tonight. No amount of meditation had been able to shake it. She knew why she couldn’t shake it. Because it wasn’t her burden to shake. Despite her attempts to sever the bond she shared with Kylo Ren, it stubbornly persisted. Perhaps she’d be connected to him forever — trapped in an endless game of back and forth. 

“Hey, Rey!” 

She glanced backwards as Poe caught up to her, falling into stride beside her. “Poe.” Rey offered with a tight-lipped smile. “Where are you off to?” 

“General Organa. Rose has come up with some brilliant plans to help us shake the First Order’s tracking tech.”

“ _Brilliant_!” Rey said with false enthusiasm, though she doubted Poe could tell. They couldn’t fully shake the First Order’s ability to track them. Kylo Ren would always know where she was. Despite her best attempts to shut him out. “Has she managed to work out how to avoid wrecking the hyperdrive systems?”

“That she has.” Poe said with a nod. “Where are _you_ headed?” 

“General Organa, actually. I had a few matters I needed to discuss with her. But you’re welcome to go ahead.” It wasn’t as though she wanted him eavesdropping on her concerns. She had enough trouble with Poe as it was. He was a cocky flyboy who thought he knew better than everyone else. As if. Unfortunately, General Organa appreciated that cocky flyboy attitude for some awful reason. 

“Sweet. Shouldn’t taken me more than five ticks.” Poe said as he started walking ahead of her, before coming to an abrupt halt. “I did have a question for you. A kind of sensitive topic.” 

Rey’s jaw clenched tightly. Oh, _kriff_. “And?”

“Is Finn seeing someone?”

“ _What_?” Rey’s brows drew together and she glared at the pilot incredulously. Of all of the things for him to be concerned with, he was honestly worried that Finn was with someone? “You can’t seriously be asking that.”

“It was just something Rose mentioned.” 

“Are you and Rose the source of the ridiculous gossip that flits around this base? We’re at war! I’ve never seen a bunch of people so concerned with who everyone is sleeping with.” Rey crossed her arms across her chest and glared Poe down. 

“Easy there.” Poe recoiled back, trying to laugh off her reaction. “It was just a question. Besides all of the rumors are _fun_. A bit of levity in the midst of the war.” 

“It’s _childish_.” 

Poe rolled his eyes. “You never did confirm or deny.” 

“No. He’s not with anyone. Have you seen him with anyone besides _you_ , Poe?” Rey huffed loudly and threw up her hands in frustration. “Tell Leia I’ll come by later. I can’t do this right now.” 

And she really couldn’t. The gossip drove her mad. When you lived alone — there was nothing to gossip about. Sure, she knew that people on Jakku had their stories about her. But nothing was ever as infuriating as the gossip that came out of the resistance. Insignificant stories spread around in the guise of _levity_. 

Rumors that she was with Finn. That she was with Poe. That she and Rose were together, simply because they worked on repairing cruisers together on Batuu. Why did everyone have to wonder if she was _with_ someone? Why was that even slightly significant in the scheme of things? They were at war — people, good people, were dying. 

It wasn’t like she could even be with the person that she would _want_ to be with. Kylo Ren had killed him. Ben Solo. A boy who shared a pain so similar to her own. A reflection she recognized like a mirror. But he had made choices that finally buried Ben Solo once and for all. Or maybe she’d made the final choice for him. She had left him, after all. 

She could’ve killed him then. Ended _all_ of this. But hope was a funny thing. 

The rumors on the base hurt because they would never be accurate. They never _could_ be accurate. If Kylo Ren set foot on the base, he would be a dead man. Rey knew that. There was no bringing Ben Solo _home_. Unintentionally the rumors had isolated her again, made her guard against them. She loved her friends with smaller gestures. Short smiles, stunted embraces, and quick conversations. 

A convenient excuse. Leia had already called her out on it numerous times. She could see plainly enough that Rey was punishing herself for failing at bringing Ben home. Despite everything, Leia maintained an unwavering hope that she would see her son again. 

But with each passing day, as the echoes of his grief seemed to fracture further — Rey wondered how much of Leia’s hope was false. 

* * *

“We picked up some interesting communications this afternoon,” Connix remarked as she sat across from Finn in the mess hall. She produced her datapad and extended it to him across the table. “I thought you’d enjoy giving it a listen.”

“Is it more First Order _garbage_?” Finn questioned as he took a sip of his drink. He reached for the datapad and gave Connix a wary look. “Not sure I can stomach more of their banter.” He shuddered dramatically, “And I haven’t forgotten the last time you brought me _interesting_ chatter.” 

Connix offered him a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think any of us intended to pick up the comlogs from _that_ transport vessel.” 

Finn could still remember the sounds of children crying. Torn away from their families and homeworlds, as he had been, ripped away from all they knew. Destined to be turned into mindless cannon fodder. The resistance had managed to hack into a transmission between vessels, expecting chatter about future tactical maneuvers, but instead it was a bunch of assholes laughing at the suffering of scared children. 

He hadn’t been able to sleep that night. Old memories returning to him. 

“It might not even be anything.” She shrugged a little, picking up a piece of her Nuna jerky at eating it. “Or it might be something huge.” 

“Right,” Finn nodded, staring at the screen as he hit the start button. The communication was grainy, but Connix or one of the others in communication had transcribed it and it read across the screen like ticker tape. 

“You have a choice.” The woman’s voice urged. “They tell you that you’re in for life, but you’re in for death. You stay, you die. You can leave. Put your helmet down and look with your own eyes at freedom.” The transmission ended. 

Finn glanced up at Connix and grinned. “Is this what I think it is?” He questioned, before he played the audio a second time. A call to arms. The message of an uprising. “Do we have any idea where this transmission came from?” 

Connix shook her head. “It came across a void channel as one of our pilots was returning to Black Spire. It’s a couple months old. Unfortunately, it got categorized with the radio programs. But it’s something, isn’t it?”

Finn stared down at the datapad, his eyes scanning over the transcribed words. It was something _huge_. There had to be others like him out there. He could _feel_ it. Like an instinct he couldn’t shake. Stormtroopers throughout the First Order were waking up — and _someone_ was out there trying to be the spark that reawakened them. “We have to find her. _Them_.” 

“Oh,” Connix reached for her datapad. “I don’t know if we have the resources.” 

Finn’s enthusiasm faltered, his brows drawn together in a furrow. “But if there are Stormtroopers defecting, that could change everything. We would have a highly skilled groundforce that knows the First Order inside and out.” People who understood how _he_ felt. 

No amount of late night discussions with Rey had helped him delve into the depths of that trauma. But if there were others like him… he was going to find them. 

Connix pursed her lips thoughtfully. “General Organa might see the merit in it. We could certainly use all the help we can get. But that transmission is old.”

“Were there any geomarkers?” Finn questioned, folding his arms across the top of the table. “Anything that could tell us where it was being transmitted from?”

“ _No_. It was just a stray transmission in between radio signals.”

Finn nodded his head slowly, already formulating a plan. If it was broadcasting back at the Outpost, that likely meant someone was trying to effect the Stormtroopers based there. In terms of other planets that the First Order had started occupying, Batuu was fairly low risk. It was a small unit, with a few low level First Order leaders. 

“Thanks for this, Kay.” Finn offered, tapping his fingers against the top of the table. “Can you transfer those files to me? Gonna work on a plan.”

“Sure thing.” She said with a nod. 

Finn rose from his seat, grabbing up his tray. He had to find Rey. 

* * *

Rey strayed outside of the boundaries of the base, enjoying the seclusion of the forest. Night had fallen, leaving her shrouded in a comforting blanket of darkness. 

She sat cross-legged, palms pressed against the soft earth beneath her. 

A vision flashed before her. Blood splashed across the ground, soaking into earth that had healed itself. How did she even know _that_? Could she feel it, rising up through the soil?

The smell of burnt flesh made her stomach twist. The aftermath of something horrible. 

“You’re _here_.” 

Rey’s heart clenched painfully as she lifted her eyes and met the haunted gaze of Kylo Ren. Wherever he was — it was hot. Sweat dripped down his face, dark hair plastered to his forehead. 

“I’m somewhere.” Rey answered, her eyes narrowing at him. “Still murdering I see.” She looked away. Disgust running deep through their bond. 

“You mourn the deaths of Sith cultists now?” Kylo countered with a snort of disbelief. “Why am I supposed?”

“Sith _cultists_?” Her brows knit together out of confusion, glancing around the massacre around her. She swallowed thickly, “Why did you kill them?”

“What does it matter to you?” He snapped, jaw clenched tightly. 

A Sith Trooper stepped in between Kylo Ren and Rey, “We need to leave the planet soon, Supreme Leader. Readings suggest the planet’s lava core is still volatile.” 

“Lava core?” Rey questioned quietly, looking around at her surroundings. At first she’d thought the smoke rising up from the ground was in relation to the battle that had taken place, but now she could see that it was rising up from cracks in the ground. “Where are you?” 

Kylo Ren turned to stare at her, something softening in his gaze as he looked down at her. “Search yourself, you know where I will be.” 

“ _Rey_!” 

The sound of Finn’s voice pulled Rey out of the vision before she had the chance to respond. What did Kylo Ren mean by that? She had no idea where he was. Somewhere out in the galaxy, sure. Too close for comfort within her mind — but there had been no reports about First Order activity on planets with lava cores.

“How did you find me?” Rey questioned as she scrambled off the ground, hands on her hips as Finn came to a stop before her. 

“Well, I…” Finn faltered, brows furrowed. “You’re always out here if I can’t find you anywhere else.” He shrugged, though something about his expression made Rey wonder what he’d intended to say instead. “Did I interrupt your meditation?” 

Rey shook her head. “You didn’t interrupt anything.” She assured him, though her mind wandered back to that brief encounter with Kylo Ren. A planet with a lava core — what was he doing there? He was leaving it too. What could they possibly want with a planet like that? 

“You in there, Rey?”

She blinked. “Sorry.” Rey rolled her shoulders comfortably. “I’m listening. What’s up?”

Finn grinned at her. “There are other Stormtroopers who are defecting.” 

“What?” Rey clapped her hands together and matched his grin with one of her own. “Where?” 

“That’s what we’re going to find out.” Finn told her, reaching out and giving her shoulder a squeeze. “I figured we could take the Falcon back to Black Spire and see if we could figure out where the transmission was coming from. Connix picked it up when we were based in Batuu, but it read like radio interference. There’s a chance we can pick up a new one and track the geomarkers associated with it.” 

Rey kept a grin plastered to her lips, wanting to support Finn in his excitement. But her own faltered. She couldn’t go gallivanting off with them. Especially not to planets that had a First Order presence. It was too risky. For her, at least. “That’s incredible, Finn. _Really_. But this sounds like a mission for you to lead up with Rose and Poe.” 

Finn frowned. “You don’t want to go too?”

“My place is here on Ajan Kloss.” Rey said simply. “I’m training, learning… I need to focus on my studies with Leia. It’s the only way for me to _ever_ be strong enough to defeat him.” She had to best Kylo Ren in an art that he’d had years of practice at. 

“So, there’s no way to tempt you away?” 

“I’m afraid not.” Rey’s lips spread into an easy smile. “There’s work to be done here still. But you should go. Find others like yourself.” Her heart ached at that sentiment. She knew what it felt like to find someone who _understood_. “Besides, I think we need to get Poe off Ajan for awhile. He was stressing out earlier because he thought you were seeing someone.”

Finn’s eyes widened, “He said that?”

“ _Mother of moons_.” Rey swept her hand over her face and let out a quiet groan of frustration. “Look, when are you going to put the man out of his misery? Just tell him you care about him too!”

Finn crossed his arms across his chest and sighed heavily. “He knows I care about him.” 

“Finn.” Rey’s brows rose upwards and she gave him a look. “You have to tell him.”

“Rose is working on it.” Finn shrugged.

“Is she?” She tilted her head to the side, “Because he was all worked up about thinking you were seeing someone.” Rey rolled her eyes. “You know I hate this. This _game_ everyone plays on base. These rumors drive me mad.” 

Finn laughed, “I know what you mean. Wish everyone would just take up Sabacc and quit worrying about everyone else.” He shrugged, “But I’ll tell him.” 

“You both deserve to be happy.” 

“What about you?”

Rey smiled back at Finn. “I am happy.” She wasn’t. How could she be? She’d failed at something she’d been so determined she’d succeed at. Sure, Snoke was dead — but Kylo Ren had stepped into his position of power. The First Order continued to bear down on innocent planets. Each day brought them closer to blotting out the last of the resistance. Hope was dying around her. But everyone seemed so oblivious to it. 

“Alright.” Finn gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You gonna stay out here much longer?”

Rey gave a short nod of her head. “Little bit longer.” 

Finn gave her a lingering look, not quite trusting the positive attitude she was putting on. He walked backwards a few steps, eyes sweeping over her, before he finally gave up and headed back towards the base. Rey watched after him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas! I decided to share chapter two since I've spent the day working on chapter four! Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far!

“So glad you finally decided to join us, Supreme Leader.” General Hux said with a smug tone that made Kylo Ren’s blood boil. A power struggle that he had grown tired of. Since he killed Snoke and woke to find Hux looming ominously above him — he knew it was a dangerous game. While Hux lacked the ability to do _physical_ harm to the newly minted Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren knew that Hux was keen to sow seeds of discord among the ranks. A rat, through and through. 

“Yes,” He answered crisply. “A regretful occurrence due to the incompetence of _your_ Stormtroopers.”

The flush of amusement drained from Hux’s pallor complexion and he sank back into his seat defeated. “I don’t understand.”

“ _Mustafar_ ,” Kylo Ren began, fingers curled into tight fists at his sides as he paced before the long table of First Order officers. “Was an embarrassing ordeal. Ground troops were delayed, leaving myself and the Sith Troopers to defeat the cultist inhabitants. Coordinates for the ruins were miscalculated.” 

Lieutenant Garan and General Parnadee turned their heads slowly to glare at Hux. Kylo Ren took immense pleasure in their looks of disappointment. Hux _had_ made a grievous error in underestimating his abilities of perception. 

“It would almost seem as though Mustafar was meant to _fail_.” He turned a cruel gaze towards General Hux then. “But you would never consider intentionally creating difficulties for me, would you General Hux?”

Hux swallowed thickly, “No, sir.” He shook his head. “Despite _my_ failures, were you successful in retrieving the artefact?” 

Kylo Ren smirked, “Of course I was.” His gaze flickered across the table, “Admiral Griss, how is the fleet faring?”

“Very well sir.” He answered, “We have been met with little resistance as we continue to expand our efforts throughout the Outer Rim territories. We have been able to reduce our resources, reserving larger fleets for inevitable conflict.”

“ _Inevitable_?”

General Hux cleared his throat, his voice wavering as he interjected into the conversation. “The resistance is weak, but we have reason to suspect that they are continuing to grow their own forces. Rumors out of Bespin suggest that alliances are being formed.” 

Kylo Ren faltered. A brief moment of conflict flickering across his face. Enough that he knew that General Hux had witnessed it. His mask — he had scarcely used it since it had been reforged, but he knew it was time. His encounter with Rey on Mustafar had unsettled him. Shaken something loose that he’d been intending to keep at bay a shy longer. 

“The resistance is scrambling. They have been since we struck them down on Crait.” Kylo Ren said sharply, his voice keeping that edge to each word that left his lips. “We will meet them if they attempt to rise. They can gather all the forces they across the galaxy, but the First Order has the means to finish this once and for all. Whatever you’re hearing, it’s an allusion. They’re weak and they know it.” 

“You are correct, Supreme Leader.” General Parnadee stated. “Our forces are ready to take down whatever pathetic attempts the resistance tries.” 

He nodded his head to the general, before giving Hux a scathing look. “If there are no further matters to be discussed, excuse me.” 

“ _Actually_ ,” General Hux started. “There is one final issue to be discussed. The scavenger girl.”

Kylo Ren stiffened. “What of her?”

“Going through reports earlier this week, I noticed that several of our initiatives to track her down had been cancelled. Care to explain?” 

All eyes turned to the Supreme Leader. He knew, of course. He had been the reason that the initiatives had been thwarted and encouraged to search elsewhere. “It’s a waste of resources. Two dozen units of Stormtroopers is an excessive use of force for one _little_ girl.”

“Who killed Supreme Leader Snoke.” Hux gritted out, that smug grin of his returning. He truly thought he’d caught him in something — didn’t he? As if Kylo Ren would let Hux, or any one of his military leaders, know the truth behind his diversion tactics. “She is a wanted criminal by the First Order.”

“Do not attempt to step outside of your purview, General Hux. The decision was made. I do not want to see another unit wasting resources to track her down. When it is time, _I_ will be the one to apprehend her.” He glared into the eyes of each and every single one of his officers. A threat. 

Kylo Ren swept out of the briefing room and into the corridor. The first Stormtrooper that crossed his path was sent hurling into the wall. 

* * *

“I’ve got a good feeling about this,” Finn said cheerily as he walked alongside Chewbacca up the boarding ramp into the Millennium Falcon. 

Chewie let out a plaintive growl of dialogue in response and clapped Finn across the back. 

“You too buddy.” Finn countered. “Wish you were coming with us. Next time.” 

Poe came around the corner, hands on his hips. “He’s not coming with us?” He looked to Chewbacca with a disappointed shake of his head. “You’re not coming with us?”

He shook his head and shrugged, rumbling out a chain of growls to express his own disappointment. 

“Yeah.” Poe stared at the Wookie with a grin. “You just keep using Leia as an excuse. We all know it’s because we caught you cheating in holochess and now these adventures are less fun for you.” 

Finn snorted a laugh. “Poe’s a sore loser.”

Chewbacca nodded his head in agreement. 

“We’ll take care of the Falcon. Don’t worry.” He assured the Wookie before they parted ways. Finn followed after Poe, deeper into the Falcon towards the main hold. 

Rose was camped out on the lounge, reading over a datapad. “For someone who’s leading this mission, I’m surprised you’re running behind.” She remarked as she glanced up at Finn. Her tone of annoyance was outshown by the grin on her lips. “You ready for this?”

“I was born ready.” Finn said as he looked over his shoulder at Poe. “Everything as it should be?”

“Yeah,” The pilot answered with a nod. “It feels weird to leave. We’ve done a couple jumps here and there, but…. Nothing this extensive. It’s good though, don’t get me wrong. I’m about sick of that jungle.” 

“You and me both.” Rose quipped as she sat her datapad down. “I’m looking forward to being back in Black Spire. At least at the outpost, things didn’t feel so stagnant.” She shrugged a shoulder. “And hopefully this turns out to be something huge.” 

“It’s going to be,” Finn said resolutely. “I feel it in my bones.” He gestured to his body and he caught the stray appraising look from Poe. “It’s dismantling the First Order from the inside.” 

“They might even have useful information,” Poe taunted. “Something a little more vital than trash chute schematics.” He stepped closely to Finn, his head cocked to the side playfully. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Finn said quietly, “But none of them will be me.” 

“No one could be you.” Poe scraped his teeth over his bottom lip, fixing Finn with a downright lustful look. “I’m going to prep the cockpit.” 

Finn exhaled shakily as he watched Poe leave the main hold. 

“ _I’m going to prep the cockpit_.” Rose mimicked, giving a valiant attempt at the cadence of Poe’s voice. “Have you still not told him?”

“Ah!" Finn threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t just tell him. Not right as we’re about to embark on a potentially lengthy journey. What if he doesn’t feel the same way?” 

“Sometimes you just have to take a chance,” Rose said and Finn knew she was speaking from experience. “But I promise you, you’re not reading the situation wrong. He undressed you with his eyes at least three times since you both walked in here.” 

Finn dragged his hands over his face throwing his head back and staring up at the ceiling. “I’ve got to focus on the mission. My gut is telling me this is _huge_. For weeks I’ve had this feeling that something was coming. Something that could change everything.” 

Rose smiled at him understandingly. “You’re better at following your gut instinct than most people in the base.” 

“Even if we find just _one_ Stormtrooper out there that’s defected… it’s a start.” Finn said hopefully, “It’s about time the First Order learns that what they’re doing… taking these kids from every planet they occupy… It’s messed up.” 

“Beaumont has been keeping a record of the planets where the children have been taken. Since the beginning. If there were official reports or even details about occupation, there might even be a chance of helping the defectors find where they came from.” Rose explained, “Something to think about after we kick the First Order’s ass.”

Finn laughed. “It’s coming.” 

“Gut instinct?”

“Something like that.” Finn couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Deep down he just _knew_ that something was shifting. He felt it when he was with Rey. Something turning deep in the depths of the galaxy. Since Crait, something had shifted. A tide had turned. He just didn’t know how he knew with such absolutism. 

“Let’s get this hunk of junk off the ground!” Poe bellowed from the cockpit. “Come take your seats and let’s get out of here.” 

* * *

Rey knew that her time with Leia was growing short. She made a good show with everyone else. She was ever the steadfast and determined General with a twinkle in her eyes that she’d always been. But within the comfort of her quarters, she seemed weak. Weaker with each passing week. It was never discussed. Rey had tried on numerous occasions to broach the topic, especially when some of the salvaged Jedi texts discussed the art of healing — but Leia refused to hear any of it. 

There was a _reason_ for it all and Rey wasn’t privy to it. 

“I’m surprised you’re not setting out across the galaxy with your friends.” Leia remarked as settled into her seat, draping a blanket across her lap. “It was good to see the three of them getting that fire back in their eyes.”

“You say that as though Poe doesn’t _always_ have a fire in his eyes.” Rey said dryly, scoffing. “He’s always raring to go somewhere.” 

“You can’t coop up pilots.” Leia said with a faint frown. “I know from experience.” 

_Han_. Rey knew very little about the intricacies of the relationship Leia had shared with her late husband. She knew what Han had alluded to, the rumors that Poe had relayed, and the fragments of Ben’s childhood she’d latched onto when she’d invaded his mind. 

“I saw Kylo Ren again.” Rey said quietly, looking down at her hands in her lap. “He was leaving a planet. It had a lava core. There’s a few in the Unknown Regions. I tried to figure out where he may have been.” 

“Mustafar.” Leia answered with a furrowed brow. “I don’t know for certain, but I do know that his grandfather had his fortress there.” She shook her head as she reached for her glass of nectar, bringing it to her lips for a sip. “Was that all you saw?”

Rey blinked a few times before she lifted her gaze to look at the General. “He told me to _search_ myself. That I knew where he would be.” She made a face. “I don’t know what he meant.” She ran her thumb across her bottom lip thoughtfully. “But it wasn’t just what he said that struck me, Leia.” 

“What is it?” She questioned, tilting her head to the side as she studied Rey carefully. “What did you see?”

“I know that his helmet has been repaired. I’ve—” Rey felt the faintest flush creep across her cheeks. “I’ve seen into his quarters and I know that it’s there. But he hardly wears it anymore. And his eyes…”

Leia’s concern grew graver. “What about his eyes? The Sith—”

“No!” Rey said quickly. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just… I don’t think it was just his mask that was broken.” She sighed heavily and slumped back against the crate she was propped up against. “I sometimes think that I won’t be able to do it Leia. When the time comes. When it's down to the two of us.”

The general’s lips drew into a warm smile, the worry that had been there nearly erased. “He deserves to have one person who hasn’t given up on him.”

“But I have.” Rey said plainly. “I want no part of who he is now. Kylo Ren is a monster. I have seen again and again what he is capable of. But _Ben_ … there was something there.” That unfinished story had burrowed itself deep. Like a thorn trapped under the skin, she hadn’t been able to pluck it out. 

Leia nodded her head understandingly. “But it bothers you still, doesn’t it? That _something_.” 

“I almost brought him back to the light.” Rey said, rubbing at her eyes as she felt a rush of emotions bring tears to her eyes. “I think you’re right. I should’ve gone with them. I just hate to think that their position is compromised when I’m with them.” 

“We have been here for months, Rey. Has _he_ attacked?”

Rey laughed breathily. “No. It’s been strangely quiet here.” She shook her head. Why hadn’t he sent troops to this planet? They were sitting ducks and yet… “Do you know if the Star Commuter is assigned to any upcoming assignments?”

“I don’t think there’s a soul on this base that would be willing to fly that scrapship into any situation. Why?” 

“Well, I don’t want to fly off with any ships that might prove useful. She’s not much, but I’ve had some luck sprucing her up. I was thinking I could run a couple quick jumps.” Rey picked at a bit of fuzz on her leg. “Get away for a couple days and clear my head. Maybe I can finally shake this guilt.” Though she had a suspicion that some of the burden of guilt she carried was not her own. “Do I have your permission, General?”

“Of course you do, Rey.” Leia said with a warm smile. “But don’t forget, what you’re feeling is natural. It’s grief.” 

“I know it might sound crazy, given what I have here with the resistance. Finn, Poe, Rose, _you_ —” Rey clenched her eyes closed for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts. It was complicated, but if anyone could understand… she knew it had to be Leia. “I have been searching for my place in all of this since I left Jakku. Maybe even since I was on Jakku. I searched for a sense of belonging and something happened with Ben. Whatever this is that connects us… It gave me a place to belong. I’m mourning something I never had.” 

“Then feel those feelings Rey.” Leia said firmly. “You speak of my son’s mask, but you have your own. I see you wear it with your friends.”

“But the Jedi—”

“Are gone, Rey.” Leia pinched the bridge of her nose out of frustration. “And with them, let the old teachings be put to rest. Limiting the depths of your emotions seems to have failed the order in the past. I wish I had realized that sooner.” 

“You didn’t fail him, Leia.” 

Leia waved off her attempt at comfort. “I did. We all did. That is a fact I have come to terms with.” 

Rey rose to her feet and moved towards the General, reaching out to take her hand. “But the choices he made… How could you have changed the course?”

“I don’t dwell on what I could’ve done differently. If we focused on the past, we would all lose sight of the future. Take from it what you will, but don’t use past mistakes to shield yourself from making the right choices.”

Rey’s lashes fluttered and she looked down at Leia’s hand. “But what if I fail? What if I succumb to the Dark Side too?” 

“I think you already know the answer to that.” Leia said, patting Rey’s hand. “Maz will be here soon. Is there anything else we need to discuss today?”

Rey shook her head slowly. There was, of course, always something to discuss with Leia. She had never had a motherly figure in her life before her — it felt _good_ to have that. “I’ll try to only be gone a few days.”

“Take your time, Rey.” Leia advised. “You haven’t given yourself a chance.” She paused, before delivering a wry smile. “And no one is going to miss that Star Commuter.”

Rey laughed, trying to push past her own emotions. “You sure? I heard it was a crucial part of our fleet.” She laughed quietly. “Thank you, Leia. For everything.”

Leia stood and embraced Rey tightly. “Thank _you_. You have the potential to succeed Rey, don’t lose sight of that.” 

Rey let her gaze linger on the General as she drew back from the hug. Leia had such unwavering hope. Hope enough to fill the hearts of the rebels she led. Things were bleak and yet they all looked to the horizon with hope. They had plans and expectations for the future. None of them sat around and dwelled on the present. The past didn’t hold them back from hoping for a new tomorrow. 

_Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to_. 

Rey barely registered the fact that Maz had entered Leia’s quarters. She nodded rather absentmindedly at her greeting, hastily making her way out of the quarters. She could feel it happening again. The shift. The fragile veil between light and dark. Between herself and Kylo Ren. 

She turned quickly, back rigid as she took in the new surroundings. She was on the Finalizer — no, _he_ was on the Finalizer. She was merely intruding. The space was vast, sterile, and blindingly bright. For a man who seemed to embody the darkness, his quarters proved an unlikely contrast. 

“You were with my mother.” Kylo Ren said crisply, glancing back over his shoulder as he sat down the artefact he was holding, leaving it beside several other strange devices that Rey was unfamiliar with. 

“I was.” Rey said, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she glanced around the room. “I haven’t been here before. Have I?”

“Once.” He answered with a cavalier shrug of his shoulders. “You were on Ahch-To.” 

Rey glanced around the room. Now that he mentioned it, it did seem vaguely familiar. “It seemed darker then.” 

Kylo Ren turned to face her fully then, though there was still a room’s length between them. “It was.” 

“I can’t say brighter is any better.” She remarked, a faint smirk of amusement twisting at the corners of her lips. Her eyes flickered towards the pyramid shaped device sitting on the table. “What is that?”

He glanced at it briefly before approaching her cautiously. “A Sith Holocron.” Kylo Ren answered, his jaw clenched tight. 

Rey arched a brow at him, taking a single step forward. “I didn’t expect you to be forthcoming.” 

“Snoke was not our only advisory, Rey.” Kylo Ren stated firmly, his fingers curled into fists at his side. Rey frowned, noticing the way his hands seemed to tremble with the effort. Was composure truly so difficult for him?

“What do you mean?” Rey questioned, blinking slowly as he stared at him, staying steady as he approached her. 

“You’re leaving.” He strode towards her cooly, long legs making quick work of the space between them. 

Rey took a step backwards, raising her hands up to keep him at bay. The faintest push within the Force — a gesture that caused him to stumble back. The barrier was perilously thin between them. A line blurred through their connection. They could hurt one another like this. And yet, they couldn’t. 

“How do you even know that?”

His shoulders pitched forward and he sulked away from her. “I could feel it. You have been disquieted since the rebels occupied Ajan Kloss.” 

Rey swallowed thickly. Of course he knew precisely where they were. “Should we expect the First Order any day now? Are you waiting for me to leave. Lay slaughter to them while I’m conveniently out of the way?” 

“No.” He looked away, eyes clenched closed. “The First Order does not _know_ where you or my mother’s forces are hiding. Suspicions surround Bespin.”

“Why?” Rey questioned desperately. “We both know that we are defenseless against what the First Order has.” He didn’t answer her. Back towards her. Hiding himself. “You may feel how unsettled I am, but I can feel your grief… _Ben_.” 

“Don’t.” He snapped, whirling back around to face her. Anger marred his expression. A nauseating rush of pure venom coursing through the bond they shared. “Something is coming.” He said ominously. “And I don’t know if I can stop it.”

“Can… _we_?” Rey felt a twist of panic tightening in her chest. She had never seen fear in his eyes before. Not as Kylo Ren. Fear, panic, betrayal — she had seen all of that in the vision of his past. “What is it?”

His lips parted, prepared to answer her, but a beep at his door silenced him. The door swept open, revealing General Hux with two lesser officers at his flanks. The edges of Rey’s reality faded as the Finalizer bled out of her view. Whatever he had planned to confess to her seemed like a grave matter. One that made the hair at the nape of her neck stand on end.

Something _was_ coming. She had felt it too. All along, she’d felt something dark just on the horizon. She had foolishly assumed it was Kylo Ren and the First Order — but it wasn’t. Something or _someone_ shrouded in unfathomable darkness. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started working on Chapter Seven today and decided I didn't want to wait to share Chapter Three with you all. Thank you to those of you that have left kind comments, it really means a lot to me! Writing this has been extremely therapeutic. After this chapter, some of my favorite things in this story happen, so I'm excited to get there with all of you!

“Chewie is going to kill me.” Rose lamented from below. “It was meant to be a _small_ adjustment. The subspace radio went out — which is an important part of this entire endeavor — and then I started tinkering with the rotating core and _kriff_!” She threw the impact wrench onto the grating as she hauled herself up over the edge, reaching for a socket tool. “I’ve killed the dejarik table.” 

Poe grimaced, his gaze flickering towards Finn. “You’ll have to be the one to tell him.” 

“But she damaged the system!” Finn looked between his friends. “Come on, you both are _not_ putting this on my shoulders.” 

“On the upside,” Rose started, popping back up over the edge to look at them. “I fixed the subspace radio and increased its field of depth. We should be able to pick up broadcasts throughout the Trilon Sector. And with any luck, we’ll be able to intercept chatter from edges of Wild Space too.” 

“See, that’s the kind of news I _want_ to hear.” Poe said, sweeping his hand over his brow. He snorted a short laugh, “You’ve done good work with the resistance, Rose. It’s a shame a Wookie is going to eat you.” 

“I’ll fix it!” Rose rolled her eyes and scrambled out from the floor panel. “But I don’t have the correct tools here. I need to rewire the entire kit if there is any hope of reconnecting the circuits.”

“On the upside,” Finn suggested. “This clears the scoreboard.” He gave Poe a knowing look. 

“We can finally beat him.” Poe clapped his hands together and laughed a little harder then. “Any more bad news?” He questioned, looking to Rose then with an arched brow. “We’re almost into Trilon airspace.”

“We’re good.” She insisted, wiping her hands off on her coveralls. Poe looked less than convinced. “This ship might be held together with spit and hope, but we’re good. Promise.” 

“ _Spit_?” Finn made a vaguely disgusted face as he looked at Rose.

“I’m hoping it’s spit.” Rose countered with a screwed up expression, before she returned the cover on the access panel. She moved past Finn and Poe, adjusting the subspace radio until they had a clear transmission coming through. 

“Do we just hope we’re on the right channel?” Poe questioned, resting his elbow on Finn’s shoulder as he leaned against him. “What’s the plan here?”

“There’s a frequency skipper,” Rose explained, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked between the two men. “It will drive us crazy, but it’ll skip between radio signals every time it picks up a frequency. Neat trick.”

Finn grinned at her appreciatively, “Did you come up with it?” 

“Kaydel did.” Rose answered. “I’ve been installing it on most of our reconnaissance vessels. It’s helped pick up on some of the channels the First Order uses. They’re getting careless.” 

“ _Good,_ ” Poe said with an edge to his voice. “Careless means they think they have the upper hand. That’s how you make mistakes.” He glanced sideways at Finn. “One day closer to ridding this world of Kylo Ren.” He patted Finn on the shoulder, before he stepped away from him. “Look, you both know I adore Rey. But I’m not big on this Force stuff. I think it’s dangerous.”

Rose studied Finn’s reaction to Poe’s words. She knew how defensive he was about Rey. She’d never seen him let someone say a single negative thing about Rey — except for that time she kicked his ass him at Sabacc. 

“It’s not _dangerous_ if it’s controlled.” Finn insisted. 

“And you’re telling me that someone like Kylo Ren ever had control over that?” 

Rose cleared her throat, “Didn’t you know him? _Before_?”

Poe balked at that, arms crossed defensively across his chest. “Yeah, I mean. I knew _of_ him. But he was _Princess Leia’s_ kid. Shrouded in mystery and all of that. Wasn’t like I was running around playing with him or some shit.” He waved a hand dismissively. “Whatever, that’s not the point. I’m just saying — this Force stuff is dangerous.” 

“Rey’s not going to hurt anyone.” Finn pressed. “Kylo Ren is an aberration of what the Force can do.” 

“Big words.” Poe countered, arching a challenging brow at Finn. Of course, he fell for the bait. Finn shoved at Poe playfully. 

“Shut up.” 

“ _Aberration._ ” Poe mimicked, shoving the other man in return.

Rose couldn’t resist, “Get a room.” She taunted and _that_ simmered them down better than throwing a bucket of ice water on them. 

* * *

BB-8 chirped loudly as he rolled along beside Rey as she paced the length of the Star Commuter’s hold. 

“I know, I know. Poe is going to be furious when he finds out I took you. But he’s always furious. You won’t even be able to tell the difference.” She _did_ adore Poe and valued her friendship with him, but he was hot-headed to a fault. She often wondered how much of that was a defensive tactic. 

In response, BB-8 zapped her bare ankle with a light electrical current. Always so defensive of Poe. The droid chirped it’s frustrations once more. 

“We’re only going to be gone for a few days tops.” Rey said as she crouched down and adjusted the droid’s antenna. “I looked at Finn’s reports — they’ll be gone for at least a fortnight. We don’t even have to tell him we were gone.”

The droid seemed settled by that. It never ceased to amuse her that droids could be as sneaky as humans sometimes. R2D2 was constantly trying to orchestrate mayhem to drive C-3PO mad. 

BB-8 beeped curiously. 

“I don’t know,” Rey admitted. She hadn’t decided _where_ she wanted to go. They were currently loitering in the airspace above Ajan Kloss — safe from any First Order attempts to monitor traffic throughout the Outer Rim. She didn’t understand the particulars, but the moon the base was on was protected by its planet, Ajara. Something about magnetic fields and barriers. She’d tuned out the rapid-fire conversation between Poe and Rose shortly after they’d made the moon their new home. 

_You know where to find me_. 

“Do I?” Rey questioned the silence. She gave the droid a quick pat on the side, before she stood up, wandering back into the cockpit. She sank down in the chair, staring out the window. 

She closed her eyes, trying to focus on that statement and the layers within him. Of course, she knew he was somewhere on the Finalizer. Most likely. Though — if he’d traveled off-world to obtain the Sith Holocron, she could safely assume that the other artefacts she’d seen had been recently found as well. 

Rey knew so little about the Sith. Only that they were bad news. Why was Kylo Ren even collecting their possessions? That seemed dangerous. It also didn’t answer where he was. And it hadn’t felt like he’d meant Mustafar when he made that statement, either. 

“Did you mean to do this?” Kylo Ren’s voice startled Rey and she scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over a protruding piece of the flight seat as she turned around to face him. 

“I didn’t mean to do _anything_ .” Rey snapped harshly. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“I was walking down a corridor, opened a door and suddenly I found myself standing in…” With a look of disgust, he looked around their surroundings. “Is _this_ what the Resistance has to fight with? Star Commuters?” He sneered, locking eyes with her. “This is what they give _you_ to pilot?”

“I asked for it.” Rey said, tilting her chin up to match his own air of superiority. “She flies fine and she’s fully upgraded.” 

“It’s a flying deathtrap.” He took a step towards the control panel at the rear of the cockpit, reaching out to flip a switch. 

Rey tensed. “You shouldn’t be able to do that.” 

“And yet we both know we can.” He answered, looking towards her with a curious expression. “Did you want something?”

“We can’t keep doing this.” Rey hissed as she threw herself back into the flight seat with an exhausted sigh. “What if you decide to kill me in my sleep?”

“Do you think I would?” 

“You don’t know that _I_ wouldn’t,” Rey said without thinking. No sooner than the words had slipped past her lips, she regretted them. She peered over her shoulder at his brooding figure. “Poorly placed joke.”

But it lingered between them. _Doubt_. She could feel it pulsing through the waves of energy she felt pouring off of him. 

He huffed. 

Rey kept her eyes trained on him, looking back over her shoulder at him as he seemed to distract himself with reading the panel of engine readings. _Riveting_ material. 

“I wouldn’t—”

“I know.”

“Good.” She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. “Was I supposed to look for you?” Rey questioned after another awkward moment of silence. She couldn’t tell if he was actually content with reading the system readings or if he was being willfully ignorant of her presence. 

“It would seem you found me,” He gave her a stray glance. 

“You told me that I knew where to find you.” Rey said flatly, brows drawn together out of annoyance. “What did you mean?”

Kylo Ren turned then, dark eyes seeking out her own. “And here I am.” 

“ _Oh_.” Rey swallowed thickly. Had he meant that she had the means of finding him, wherever he was, simply because they were connected? 

“When the time comes, that lightsaber will not serve you, Rey.” He warned her, fingers curling into fists at his side. The tension he held within his body made her nauseous. She didn’t know how he did it. Holding all of that rage and sorrow within himself. 

“When _what_ time comes?”

He seemed to hesitate, eyes flickering around his surroundings distrustfully. “I believe that the followers of the Sith intend to exhume and raise a great evil. In fact, I _know_ that this will happen. That it may have already happened.”

A shiver ran down her spine. “Please, tell me _everything,_ ” Rey begged quietly. “Whatever you know… You have to tell me so I can stop this.” 

“Snoke was just the beginning.” He said gravely, “You won’t be able to stop it with _that_ saber. It isn’t _yours_.”

“It works fine.”

“One of the greatest moments in a Jedi’s life is when they are ready to forge their own saber.” He explained to her, “You are ready, Rey.” 

Rey stood slowly, stepping around the chair with more grace this time. “You once said you would teach me.” Her lashes fluttered as she came to stand before him. “Tell me what I have to do.”

“Ilum was destroyed.” He explained evenly, his eyes never leaving her face. “And with it, it’s kyber crystalline core was lost. “However, one of its moons _is_ inhabitable and there were rumors stretching back centuries that suggested its own core contained kyber.” 

“How do you know all of this?”

“Thirteen years I trained beside my uncle, Rey. I enjoyed what I learned.” A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips and Rey felt her heart flutter in response to it. Like this she could forget the lines drawn in the sand between them. Less Kylo Ren and more Ben Solo. More lost soul clinging to a facsimile of himself. The potential for something more between them. Something outside of war and struggle. 

“Impressive.” Rey said flatly, “You would’ve made a great Jedi.” She expected some sort of biting retort. Some offer to join him on the Dark Side. 

“I know.” 

Rey’s lips parted, words dancing on the tip of her tongue. But instead she settled for the safe route. The words that didn’t force her to acknowledge the subtle change she saw within him. A start, perhaps. “So you expect for me to go to this _moon_ and look for a crystal to forge myself a new lightsaber?” 

He nodded his head slowly, his gaze turning downwards. “I can meet you there.” He offered quietly. 

Rey’s hand curled around the back of the pilot’s chair beside her. She stared at him, trying to read his expression for some semblance of an answer. Whatever darkness loomed on the horizon, whatever force of evil seemed to have shaken him to the very core. “A trap?” She suggested stubbornly.”

“ _Rey_.” Kylo Ren countered, eyes snapping up to bore into her face. 

“Just you. No troopers. No First Order associates. Just _you_.” Rey wasn’t afraid of him. Perhaps she should’ve been, but she wasn’t. She trusted him enough to know that he wouldn’t lure her under false pretenses. 

“I’ll find you there.” He remarked, his gaze sweeping over her before he turned sharply — approaching the door of the cockpit. It slid open and he stepped through the threshold, severing their connection. 

Rey let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in, slumping back into the pilot’s chair. 

“BB-8,” Rey remarked and the droid came merrily rolling into the cockpit. “We need to head towards the 7G Sector in the Ilum System.” She dragged her hands over her face, trying to wrap her mind around what she’d just agreed to do. An unknown moon, Kylo Ren, and the untapped potential of kyber crystals. 

She leaned forward, flipping several buttons on the console to ready the systems. Her fingers curled around a lever, pulling it back to make the jump to hyperspace. In the course of her life, she’d made far more dangerous choices than this.

* * *

“You know what would be fun right about now?” Poe remarked, raising his voice to be heard over the constant static-skip of the frequency skipper. The sound was mind-numbing and he had just about reached his limit with it. Three hours. _Three hours_. 

“Holochess?” Finn guessed correctly, looking up at Poe from where he was lounging on his stomach on the floor. They’d all attempted to make themselves comfortable as they huddled in the main hold and waited for some miracle broadcast to appear on the radio. So far it had been a lot of garbage talk radio and a few channels with music he would’ve liked to listen to. But the skipper jumped past it in its constant search for the right broadcast. 

“If I hear one more joke about holochess, I won’t be the only one worried about what Wookies eat.” Rose threatened, setting her datapad aside and shooting Poe a withering look. “I’ll fix it when we get back to base.” 

“But we could be playing it _now,_ ” Poe complained, stretching himself out more comfortably on the lounge. “Finn, why are you still laying on the floor? That can’t be comfortable.”

“ _Shh_.” Finn waved his hand as he continued focusing on each station change. “I’m trying to listen here.” 

“On the floor.” Poe looked to Rose then for an explanation, seeing as Finn had gone quiet. 

Rose’s brows rose upwards and she shrugged. She glanced in Finn’s direction, before she mouthed, ‘ _His back_ ,’ to Poe. 

Poe grimaced. Finn hadn’t said word one about his back still bothering him. Despite how much time the two men spent together — he was distinctly aware of the fact that Rose and Rey seemed to know more about Finn than he did. Rey and Finn had their pseudo-philosophical discussions about the Force and Rose and Finn had their shared experiences together to lean on. He had that too, of course, but sometimes it felt like Finn kept a barrier up between them. 

But he had chosen _him_ for this mission. And despite Poe’s grousing about having to listen to the static between radio stations for hours on end — he was glad that Finn had wanted him there, on the cusp of something life-changing. 

Poe folded his arms against the table as he leaned forward, eyes focused on Finn. Every time the radio switched to a channel with someone speaking, hope flashed in Finn’s gaze. It would fade briefly, that worry line between his brows returning. He knew how much this meant to the former-Stormtrooper. This meant as much to him as the Resistance meant to Poe. 

The station changed once more and a determined voice sounded off, “You have a choice—” 

“That’s it!” Finn shouted, jumping up off the floor. 

Rose jumped into action, hastily shutting off the frequency skipper and setting the radio back to the previous station. The voice continued, “You can leave. Put your helmet down and look with your own eyes at freedom.”

“Can you pick up where it’s coming from?” Finn questioned Rose as he and Poe moved to crowd around her and the subspace radio. 

“Shh.” Rose reached up and pressed her hand over Finn’s mouth. “There’s something in the background of the transmission.”

Poe squinted, trying to strain to listen to the sound in the background. It sounded like numbers. A pattern of some sort. “Hang on.” He remarked as he stepped away from the radio and grabbed Rose’s datapad. 

“Thirteen. Fifteen. Four. Four. Five. Twelve. Twelve.” Poe explained as he wrote down each number as he heard it. “It repeats. It reaches the second twelve and resets to thirteen.”

“Coordinates?” Rose suggested. 

Poe shook his head. “Too long.” He stared at the numbers, glancing up at Finn. “Is it some sort of First Order code?”

“Don’t think so.” Finn sighed, hands on his hips as he paced. “Nothing is clicking.”

The transmission repeated, the same voice relating the same message — the numbers echoed faintly in the background.

“Think!” Poe snapped. “This has to mean something.” He sat the datapad down on the table with a little more force than necessary. “What does this mean?”

“It could be nothing.” Rose offered, arms crossed across her chest once she’d muted the transmission. “It’s not even encrypted with a geomarker.”

“Alright,” Poe sighed and looked to Finn then. “Why would some defector encourage others this defect, but not give them somewhere to go?”

Finn stared at Poe for a long moment, lips pressed together pensively before something sparked in his mind. “That is a First Order tactic.”

“What is?” Poe arched a confused brow.

Finn moved to pluck up the datapad, staring at the numbers. “It’s a pattern. What’s the thirteenth letter?”

Poe counted off on his fingers. “M.” He cocked his head to the side, considering what the next letter would be. “O.”

“Two fours,” Rose reminded them as she moved to join Finn and Poe as they stared at the datapad. “So two Ds.”

“M-O-D-D.” Poe stated, running down the alphabet for the next set of letters. “Moddell!”

“The Moddell Sector?” Finn questioned, typing out the letters beneath the number pattern. “I mean, that’s a real place. Do you think—”

“I _do_ think!” Poe said excitedly, grabbing Finn by the shoulder and pulling him into a tight embrace. “We’re going to find them, buddy.”

“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” Rose interjected, forcing Poe to let go of Finn, though Finn kept a tight grip on the back of Poe’s jacket. 

“Yeah,” Poe said with a sigh. “But it’s a starting point.” He squeezed Finn’s shoulder reassuringly. “Looks like we’re going to do a bit of planet-hopping.” 

“You guys go do that,” Rose said, snatching the datapad out of Finn’s grasp. “I’m going to keep trying to sort out this transmission. There has to be more to it.” 

“Come on,” Poe looked to Finn then. “I want you to use that _instinct_ of yours to help me figure out where to land us first.” 

* * *

General Hux sneered as Sith Stormtroopers marched past him. He found the garrish red color to be a distasteful choice, when the clean white aesthetic had served them so well for countless years. But of course — the new _Supreme Leader_ had wanted to make changes to their troops. Changes at every corner. Changes just to spite _him_. 

He let those filthy animals — the Knights of _bloody_ Ren — track mud throughout the _Finalizer_. Replaced officers that had previously been loyal to Hux, opting for those that remained observant to Kylo Ren. Underhanded decisions meant to drive him mad. 

Perhaps, in part, because Kylo Ren _knew_ that Armitage Hux knew the truth. There was no way that the scavenger girl would have defeated Supreme Leader Snoke and left Kylo Ren living too. It had been far too convenient. And since his rise to the title of Supreme Leader — Kylo Ren had sent the First Order on a pathetic game of hide-and-seek with the scavenger and her little rebel friends. He doubted the Supreme Leader’s motives, his loyalty to their cause. Snoke had seen it. The girl was his weakness. 

“Officer Phyta.” Hux gritted out through clenched teeth as he regarded the young officer approaching him. One of the few that had remained loyal to him, in the wake of Kylo Ren’s attempts to undermine his authority. 

The young woman skittered to a halt before him, glancing warily around the corridor they were in. She paused, waiting for a mouse droid to roll past before she spoke. “You wanted me to warn you if there was any… _unusual_ activity.”

A smirk twisted viciously at Hux’s lips. “Yes. Has there been something to raise concerns?”

“Yes,” She nodded, hesitating as she checked her surroundings once more. “An hour ago the Supreme Leader left on an unplanned excursion.” 

“Where to?”

Officer Phyta tensed as three Stormtroopers marched past them, her eyes following them until they were safely out of earshot. “He encrypted the coordinates before departure. Instructions were quite clear that he was to venture out _alone_.” 

“Interesting.” Hux narrowed his eyes. “Thank you, Officer Phyta. Your assistance will _not_ be forgotten.” 

“Thank you, sir.” She stood at attention, saluting him before she continued on her way. 

There would be a place for all of those who stood beside him, steadfast in their beliefs of the higher cause of the First Order. He had not endured the wrath of his father, only to be disrespected by a man who cared little about the core efforts of the First Order. Kylo Ren might think because of his own lineage, because of his unnatural abilities — that _he_ deserved the title of Supreme Leader. 

Hux knew that he alone belonged on that throne; ruling the First Order and its forces. Reshaping the galaxy into the place that others had set out to do in the past. He would _not_ fail as they had. 

But first, he had to orchestrate the fall of Kylo Ren. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! This is one of my favorite chapters I've written. But the next chapter has some of my favorite content in it. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!

“ _No_ .” Finn defensively crossed his arms across his chest, shaking his head. “You’re wrong, Poe. that _never_ happened.”

“If Rey was here, she’d back me up on this.” Poe remarked, flashing Finn a cheeky grin. “Oh, come on! Quit sulking. Getting sloshed at the cantina isn’t _that_ big of a deal.” 

“It is when I don’t recall this entire incident.” Finn lamented, sinking back in his jumpseat, staring up at the ceiling above him. He was mortified. _Mortified_. “You’re making it up.” He insisted, which earned him a jovial laugh out of Poe who seemed to be basking in his humiliation. 

Rose stepped into the cockpit, leaning against the door frame as she glared at the two of them. “Is there a reason you’re both quarrelling like a married couple?” 

“Settle an argument for us.” Poe suggested as he flipped a couple switches on the console before turning his seat around to look at Rose. “Do you recall the night Finn had too many drinks at Oga’s? We’d just got back from a supply run to Bespin.” 

Rose pressed her lips together in a poor attempt to mask her amusement. “I do recall that evening.”

Finn groaned dramatically, covering his face. “No. No. _No._ ”

Poe grinned smugly, “Did he or did he not refer to himself as _Finn Dameron_?” 

Rose covered her mouth as a burst of laughter escaped her. “That happened.” She gave Finn a sympathetic look. “You were pretty gone at that point.”

“I don’t hold my alcohol well.” He huffed, rolling his eyes as he stared out the window. “We all know this. Ha. Ha. Finn got drunk and said something stupid.” Finn shot Poe a scathing look. “Can we just focus on the mission, please?” 

“Alright. _Alright_.” Poe held his hands up in mock-defense. “We’ll be passing through the old Sanctuary Pipeline soon, headed for Endor.” He glanced back at Rose, “Anything new?”

“Unfortunately not.” Rose shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll switch the skipper back on once we fully enter the Moddell sector. There might be another broadcast here that can lead us to the right planet.” 

Poe clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Let’s hope there’s something then. This sector is going to be crawling with the FO and I’m not looking forward to getting into a firefight planet-hopping.” 

Finn scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to push the last vestiges of embarrassment out of his system. Why the hell did Poe have to go and remind him of that incident? He could probably blame Rey for it. She was the one who had been bound and determined to drink more than they usually had that night. She had been in an awful mood, sulking around the Outpost. 

She’d been _off_ ever since her last encounter with Kylo Ren. That _bastard_. If he ever got a chance to take another strike at him — he’d make him pay for hurting his friend. 

_Kriff_. He’d really gone and apparently told the whole cantina that his name was Finn Dameron. How humiliating. And the way Poe had been carrying on about it? He couldn’t tell if the pilot had intended to make him feel stupid for that one little incident. As it was, he’d probably just misspoke. The night was a hazy memory. 

The last thing he remembered was dealing with a Stormtrooper on patrol in the cantina. Rey had used her mindtrick on him and Poe had ranted for nearly an hour about how messed up it was that the Jedi could corrupt the mind like that. Rey had sworn up and down, forwards and backwards—

“Hey, Rose.” Finn said suddenly, turning in his seat to face her. “Did you play it backwards?”

“What?” Rose’s brows furrowed together in confusion. 

“The transmission. Did you play it backwards?”

“Why would I—”

Finn bounded out of his seat, rushing past Rose as he headed back into the main hold. He grabbed the datapad off the table, pulling up the transmission Rose had stored on the device. He played with the settings, finally getting it to play backwards. 

He looked towards Rose and Poe, grinning from ear to ear. “We’re not going to have to planet hop, Poe. The answer is right here.” 

In the background of the grainy and reversed transmission, the faint chant of ‘ _H-16_ ’ could be heard. 

Poe snapped his fingers together. “H-16… that’s…” He paused, going through his mental catalogue of galactic grid. “Kef Bir.” He looked at Finn in awe then. “You weren’t too far off with picking Endor.” 

Finn drew out a shaky breath in response, “Yeah.” There was that instinct again. That knot in his gut that told him what to do. When to do it. Was that what it was like for Rey? She was always so keen and clever, like she knew what was coming. But he was certainly no Jedi. He couldn’t do any of the things she was able to do. Lift ships? _No_. That wasn’t his thing. His thing was an instinct driving him onwards. 

* * *

Anxiety coiled itself into a sharp-edged knot in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety paired uneasily with dread, a feeling he hadn’t been able to shake since everything started to come apart at the seams around him. Emotions came upon him like a flood now. For so many years, since what happened at the Temple — he’d used anger as a crutch to hold back other emotions. But now he felt it all. 

Kylo Ren glanced up at a flashing button above his head, toggling the switch beside it. The flashing light shut off and he resumed, piloting the Whisper towards the coordinates of the moon he was set to rendezvous on with Rey. He still couldn’t quite believe she’d agreed. The ground they stood on was a thin layer of ice — at any moment, he expected to crack through the surface and drown. 

Despite everything, she still held out hope for him. Foolish, misplaced hope. He knew better than to believe that there was a place in the world for _Ben Solo_. He was dead and gone, lost somewhere in the cosmic rebirth of Ilum, in the star they’d named after his father. A bright beacon in the dark galaxy — the star designated Solo was the final resting place of both Han and Ben Solo. 

He blamed his mother for keeping that errant hope alive within Rey. 

There was something larger at play. Something that went beyond whether or not his soul could be saved. He had unwittingly set into motion something far more sinister than anything the First Order could dole out. Something worse than the crimes committed by his grandfather before him. His turn, the creation of Kylo Ren, his fall into the clutches of Snoke — it had all been the stepping stones laid out by a great Sith Lord. Orchestrated unbeknownst to him. Something that only he and Rey could finish. 

His days within the First Order were numbered. General Hux grew suspicious of his motivations with each passing day. They believed that his collection of Sith artefacts were meant to cultivate a loyal following within the cultists who intended to fully bring back Darth Sidious. In reality, he’d begun tracking down the artefacts to delay the inevitable. A clever attempt to maintain appearances. 

“You’re close.” Rey’s voice cut through the storm in his mind.

“I am.” He answered, eyes focused out the window, fingers curled tightly around the joystick. “Have you already arrived?”

“Unfortunately.” Rey laughed sharply, “You could’ve warned me that it would be _freezing_ here.” 

“Ah,” He retorted, a faint smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he adjusted the systems for the descent onto the moon. “Aren’t there any flight suits on your little _Star Commuter_? Did you not recall the atmosphere on Ilum?” 

“You’re mocking me.” He could feel a tug of annoyance between their connection. “You’re not funny.” 

“I suppose I could lend you my cloak.” He suggested, which only seemed to fuel her spark of annoyance. 

“I can take care of myself.” Rey insisted. “ _Laser brain_.” Oh, she’d spent far too much time around his mother. Which was a special type of disconcerting. 

“Suit yourself.” Kylo Ren chuckled. “I’m landing now.” 

A gaggle of snowfeather birds scurried as he let the landing ramp down, the wind swirling his cloak around him as he stepped out onto the snowy tundra. The moon eerily reminded him of Ilum — of his own journey into the forgotten temple to seek out his kyber crystal. It felt like a lifetime ago. Memories marred by tragedy. 

Rey disembarked from the Star Commuter vessel, zipped up in a singularly unattractive flight suit with a hood that was far too large for her head. “You were right.” She bit out, arms crossed across her chest as a particularly cold wind blew past them.

“It suits you.” Kylo Ren countered cockily, “Admitting I’m right, that is.” He gestured to the outfit she wore. “This is an abomination. You should burn it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t amuse me.” But the faint tug of a grin at the corners of her lips said otherwise. “Can we just get this over with already?” She fussed with a bit of loose hair that kept flying into her line of sight. 

“Of course,” He offered with a stiff nod, turning his attention ahead of them. “On Ilum there was a temple one had to venture to, within it was the path to the kyber crystals. It was meant to be a pilgrimage of sorts — a long-awaited moment for a Jedi.” 

“Alright, so without the temple… is this still some sacred journey?” Rey questioned, tilting her head to look at him. “What am I supposed to do to find these crystals?” 

“Can’t you feel them?” He countered, brows drawn together as he turned to look down at her. “The hum rising up from the ground. The space between us and the Force?” The years of training, the philosophical debates, his studies — everything his uncle had taught him, passed down from Master Yoda… it was all there. The fragments of a long-forgotten order. Once upon a time, Luke had claimed he had _promised_ — that he could see within Ben, that desire to teach future generations. Snoke had once crushed that part of his spirit. Twisted those desires. But Rey had forced that back to the surface. 

The Force had been wise in linking the two of them together. 

Rey pulled the hood up around her head as another gust of wind blew it off. “I can’t feel much of anything right now.” She complained, shuffling in a vain attempt to get warm. “If you’re feeling _something_ perhaps you should lead the way.” 

“Fine.” He nodded his head to encourage her to follow as he started out across the frozen wasteland. Despite the thick layers of the clothes he wore, the cold bit through the fabric harshly. Perhaps he should’ve also planned ahead for this journey. 

“This isn’t some sort of trap, is it?” Rey questioned after a few minutes of silence, her cheeks were bright pink in response to the wind chill, lips drawn into a thin line as she looked towards him, trying to keep up with his long-legged stride.

He arched a brow at her, “What do you think?” She was, after all, the same girl who delivered herself to an enemy vessel on the whim of hope.

“I think it’s awfully cruel to lure someone accustomed to the desert, onto a frozen planet, just to kill them.” Rey let out a laugh and shook her head. “Are you feeling those crystals?”

“Are you not trying to?”

“I feel cold, Ben!” Rey snapped, kicking him in the back of his calf. “That’s all I’m feeling.” 

He stopped abruptly, reaching out to grab her arm. “You need to _focus_ Rey. If we’re going to win this, you have to _focus_.” 

“Are you going to tell me what we’re up against?” Rey tried to jerk her arm out of his grasp, but it was mostly half-hearted protesting. “You alluded to exhuming some great evil but you left it at that. I want answers. I’m not going another step further.”

“You are unbelievable!” He gritted out, keeping his gloved fingers curled around her arm. “You couldn’t have started this when we still had the safety and warmth of our respective ships?”

She deadpanned. “Oh, I’m sorry is this inconvenient for _you_?” 

“It is.” 

Rey shook her arm loose at last, crossing her arms across her chest once more. “Tell me why you think I need a new saber. The one I have is doing fine.”

“ _Fine_ will not defeat him.” 

“Him _who_?” 

He clenched his teeth together, the pressure aggravating the injury he’d received to his jaw on Mustafar. He hadn’t let it heal long enough, clearly. He relished that fresh pain, a diversion from a different sort of agony. 

Kylo Ren’s expression sobered, all hints of amusement lost. “You are familiar with my grandfather, Darth Vader?”

“Yes.” Rey answered quietly, her teeth chattering slightly. “Has he returned?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Unfortunately, not. But the monster who orchestrated his fall may be returned to flesh and blood. For several months now I have been trying to delay the inevitable. The cult of Sith requires artefacts — _relics_. They hold within them the essence of those that came before. The belief is that, with the right sacrifice… the loss of enough _good_ … Darth Sidious can rise again.” 

Rey recoiled like she’d been struck by the information. “This is a trap!” She shouted, skittering backwards in her haste to escape and landing flat on her ass on the icy ground. “I’m the sacrifice, aren’t I?”

“In theory, you would be.” He answered honestly, reaching out a hand to help her up. She resisted his offer at first, but accepted it as a last resort. They both slid on the ice, it took a great deal of effort on his part not to slip and crush her. “But I’m not going to let that happen.” 

“You’re not?” Rey blinked up at him, fingers gripping at his forearms in an effort to stay upright. 

He hadn’t even realized that in his attempt to keep her steady, he’d curled his hand around her hip. It felt right, which nearly made him recoil. There was so much more he had to explain to her. To tell her everything he had learned about the bond they shared — the reason why, despite her best efforts, she couldn’t close herself off from him. Neither of them could. 

“Rey, I—” Whatever words he intended to let slip past his lips were quickly forgotten by a bone-shakingly loud growl from an Asharl that was bounding towards them. “Get behind me!” He shouted, sweeping in front of her and drawing his lightsaber. 

“What the _hell_ is that?” Rey questioned, ignoring his order and drawing her own lightsaber, standing beside him.

“That is an Asharl.” He answered, fingers gripping tightly around the hilt of his blade as he charged at the giant predator. 

The Asharl leapt off the ground a dozen feet away from them, it’s powerful hindlegs sending it clear over their heads. Rey timed her crouch, lifting up off her feet and dragging the tip of her lightsaber along the underside of the beast’s stomach.

Red blood splashed out across the clean white ground. But the injury didn’t deter the monster. It charged again, teeth bared and far more feral than it was before. 

“We’ve got trouble!” Kylo shouted as he spotted a second Asharl barreling down a snow-covered hill, ready to protect its mate. 

Rey crouched, dodging a swipe from the creature’s giant paw. Kylo charged, driving his lightsaber into the massive beast all the way to the hilt. Despite the fatal strike, it still reacted — slamming its full weight into him and sending him careening backwards onto the ground. 

If it weren’t for Rey’s quick thinking, he would’ve fallen straight into the path of the oncoming Asharl. She raised her hands, using the Force to throw the beast backwards, sparing him from becoming its dinner. 

“Come on, let’s go. _Quick_.” Rey urged, reaching out for his hand to help him up off the ground. She didn’t let go of it either. Her fingers clenched tightly around his own as she led them up to the crest of a hill. 

Kylo glanced backwards at the bloody scene they left in their wake. He was so _fucking_ done with seeing blood everywhere he went. His heart clenched as he watched the injured Asharl moved towards the corpse of its mate, mourning its loss. Everywhere he went, there was pain. 

“I feel it too, you know.” Rey remarked, squeezing his hand reassuringly as they walked side-by-side through the snow. “I don’t take any pleasure in killing, but I do want to survive.” 

“Yeah.” He offered with a short nod, eyes trained ahead then. Not long ago, that had been his own philosophy. It didn’t matter who got in his way, who he had to strike down, so long as he survived. Defiant in the face of everyone who hoped that he wouldn’t survive. Now, he felt the weight of survival’s costs. 

“And the crystals,” Rey added, her own gaze fixed on a point on the horizon. “I feel them too. Like a song calling out to me.” 

* * *

“I don’t know what I expected,” Finn stated as he stood at the foot of the ramp, staring out at the rolling hills surrounding them. 

Poe strolled down behind him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “What? Not where you’d pick for a home for defectors?”

Finn rolled his eyes. “No, it’s just... “ He shrugged his shoulders. “I had a very different place in my mind. A little more metropolitan.” 

“Did you expect them to be hiding out at Canto Bight or something?” Rose questioned as she stopped beside Finn, taking in the landscape around them. “At least it’s not raining here.” 

“Yeah, what was that you were saying about a storm system?” Poe quipped, giving Finn’s arm a squeeze as he stepped past him. 

“To the west there appeared to be a large storm cell hovering over the planet’s ocean mass. It didn’t seem to be moving, which is comforting.” Rose answered, leaning into Finn then. “So, what’s the plan? Do you have a _feeling_?” 

“Stop saying it like that.” Finn protested, giving her a look. “I don’t even know if that’s what it is. Alright?” 

Rose gave him a disappointed look. “And what if it _is_ like that? Are you just going to pretend that isn’t the case?”

“Maybe.” 

“Hey, Finn!” Poe shouted from a few meters from them where he was investigating something he’d found. “Come look at this.” 

Finn jogged over to where he was crouched, leaning down beside him. “Is that what I think it is?” He questioned, reaching out to brush the dirt off the white material. “FN-9319.” It was a cracked off piece of a Stormtrooper helmet where the designation was printed on the interior. He was intimately familiar with this piece of gear. 

“So there _have_ been Stormtroopers here.” Finn said hopefully as he looked up at Poe. Something caught his eye over his shoulder, his brows furrowing together as he tried to focus on whatever it was. “ _Rose_ —” He called out, looking back at the Millennium Falcon and not finding her anywhere to be found. “Oh, shit.” 

Poe and Finn both stood up, hands on their blasters as they frantically looked around for Rose. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know!” Finn shouted, his heart pounding in his chest. If something had happened to her, he’d never let himself live with it. “Rose!” He cried out, back turned to Poe as he kept looking for her. Had that been her moving on the edge of his vision? 

A thump behind him made him turn around — just before everything went dark. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday! I guess I've officially developed a pattern for updates. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Thank you all for your kind words in the comments and thank you to those who are reading! I am having so much fun with this chapter.

“Why couldn’t these crystals have been on a… I don’t know — a _desert_ planet?” Rey complained as they made their way through a frozen cavern. “I have never been this cold in my life.” She rubbed her hands together through the too-thin gloves she wore. 

Ben cupped his hand over his mouth, exhaling in a vain attempt to warm up his face. She could tell he was trying to act unaffected by the brutal weather, but he was just as cold as she was. “The cold temperatures are conducive for the creation of the crystals.” 

“Does the First Order know that their Supreme Leader is _smart_?” Rey countered with an amused expression plastered to her wind-chapped lips. 

“They only care that I’m ruthless,” Ben answered with a shrug of his shoulders. It was so strange to see him being so frank with her. The last time things had felt so genuine had been on Ahch-To, right before his uncle had interrupted them. And it was Ben — not Kylo Ren that was accompanying her. 

Rey and Ben approached the ledge of the chasm that split the cavern in two. Her brows furrowed together as she looked down into the inky black nothingness below. “I can clear this.” She told him, turning to face him. 

“Your training has paid off then.” He quipped, a faint smirk playing over his lips. “You should go the rest of this journey alone.”

Rey started to protest but he continued on. 

“We are _close_ . But you have to do this part of it alone, Rey. It is _your_ kyber crystal.” 

She blinked up at him before turning her gaze across the ravine. She could feel the steady pulse of something through the Force. Something calling out to her, leading her to it. 

“Don’t leave me here.” Rey whispered as she looked back up at him. “ _Please_.”

“I won’t.” He told her honestly, dark eyes staring down at her lips.

Rey swallowed thickly, her tongue darting out to wet her chapped lips. “Ben, I…” She reached up hesitantly, gloved fingertips ghosting over the scar she’d given him. “You’re too tall.” 

The grin that creased the corners of his lips was dazzling. And his chuckle chased away all of her fears that she had misread the situation between them. He ducked down, lips brushing against hers.

Rey surged up, winding her fingers through his hair and kissing him in return. It was over far too quickly for her liking — she’d spent too many nights wondering what it would’ve been like to kiss him. Her enemy. 

“Go.” He said quietly, dragging his gloved fingers along the curve of her jaw. “This is _your_ journey.”

Rey nodded her head slowly, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. “And then we’ll talk.” She inhaled a steadying breath, forcing herself to look at away from him then. 

She closed her eyes, focusing on the vibration she felt in the Force. The end of the string that was connected to her soul. Pulling her towards _something_. 

Rey retreated away from the ledge, moving back in the direction they had come from. She crouched, stretching her legs, before she took a running start. She lept off the edge, careening over the chasm — the cold wind rushing through her hair, as she cleared the distance. 

Panting she turned around to look across the vast space between them. It wasn’t the first time they’d find themselves torn apart by the earth — but this time, she didn’t want that to be the case. 

_Focus_. 

Rey rubbed her hands together to warm them, before she set out further through the icy cavern. Each step brought her closer to her destiny. The core to the lightsaber that would be her own. While then saber at her hip had served her well, she knew it had served too many masters. The connection she felt to it was muted. 

If she and Ben were meant to defeat a reanimated Sith Lord — she needed her own lightsaber. Like every Jedi that had come before her. 

Rey shimmied her way through a narrow pass, back pressed against the rough wall as her toes teetered on the edge. Her heart rate spiked as several rocks fell from beneath her feet, causing her to pitch forward. 

She lept up, feet scrambling against the sides of the wall. Rey used the Force to move higher up the wall, grabbing onto a rock to swing herself further down the narrow pass, landing on her feet.

The sensation grew stronger and she knew that she was on the right path. Further and further she moved; deeper into the cavern. She shed her flight suit on the last leg of the journey, a warmth radiating from the center of the earth forcing her to leave it behind. 

One final leap across a treacherous chasm and she was there. Fingers itching to reach out and grab the crystal that sang out for her. 

It felt like a shock bursting through her system as her fingers curled around the crystal. Fire and ice shooting through her — burning and freezing her to the core. 

Rey screamed out, but there was no one to hear her cries. A vision forced its way into her mind — a twisted variation of what she had seen in the pit on Ahch-To. A mirror of herself — endless nothingness echoing back into her.

A flash of red. A saber crashing down beside her. She tumbled back, landing on her back — her own lightsaber missing from her hip. She scrambled backwards on her hands, eyes going wide as she saw the face her attacker. 

Herself. Cloaked in dark robes, hair loosely flowing, darkness seeping from her pores. 

“I am you.” She spoke to herself, raising the saber above her head, posed to strike herself. “Can’t you feel the darkness in your heart, Rey?”

“ _No_! You’re not real.” Rey snarled out, rising up onto her feet and crouching as she looked up at herself. 

“But you’ve seen it before.” The voice taunted. “You and _him_ , seated on a throne. You wanted that. You still do.”

“I want him, but I don’t want that.” Rey lunged at the dark version of herself, tackling her to the ground. She fought to force the red lightsaber out of her grasp, nails digging into her own flesh. Drops of blood painting the ground. 

Rey blinked as she drew the lightsaber on herself and realized, lying beneath her was no longer the dark version. She was now the dark vision. 

“It doesn’t have to be this way!” The vision of herself pled, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Rey stumbled backwards, dropping the lightsaber in horror. 

“ _Rey_!” 

“Ben?” Rey turned quickly, searching the darkness for him. 

It was at that precise moment that the vision of herself retrieved the lightsaber and drove it into her back. 

Rey came awake, her chest heaving as she sat up rapidly. She touched the spot on her stomach where the lightsaber had protruded, relieved to find her flesh and clothes intact. 

She stared down at the crystal in her hand. It glowed green in her palm — reminding her of the first time that she saw lush green forests, of life beyond the desert. 

But that didn’t vanquish the fear that coiled harshly in her gut. The fear of falling into the darkness. The same paralyzing fear that had forced her to leave Ben behind. 

It had been his voice in the darkness that had pulled her out of the dark vision. Had that been part of her fantasy — or had he been able to read out through their bond? Did he know that her fear was giving into the darkness she knew existed within her? The darkness that wanted to rise to meet his own?

Rey stared down at the crystal in her hand, brows drawn together. At least it wasn’t red. 

* * *

Rose let out a groan as she came awake, eyes frantically looking around the unfamiliar space. As far as she could tell, they were in some sort of ship hold. The light in the space was far too dim to make out much else. All she knew was that her head was _throbbing_ and with each pulse of pain, her stomach rolled violently. 

She started to reach to cover her mouth as she felt bile rising up in her throat, but quickly found that her hands were bound behind her back. Instead, she forced the bile back down and gagged at the taste of it on her tongue. 

“ _Rose_?” 

“I’ve never been so relieved to hear your voice.” Rose remarked as she twisted as best she could to look behind her at Finn, where he was bound to the wall behind her. 

“I think we were drugged.” Poe stated, letting out a sputtering cough as he too seemed to be fighting back the same nausea that Rose was. She craned her neck to try to see where he was and spotted him around the corner of one of the control panels, his heads bound above his head. 

Whoever had taken them, they were thorough about keeping their prisoners separate. Rose twisted in her cuffs, trying to test their strength — which seemed _unfortunately_ durable. “I didn’t get a look at them. When they grabbed me.” 

“Me neither.” Poe huffed, rattling his cuffs against the metal. “How’s that _good_ feeling serving us now, Finn?”

“Oh yeah,” Finn said dryly. “Because I expected for us to get drugged and kidnapped.” 

“It’s always the unexpected places.” Poe continued, as if he hadn’t even heard what Finn had said. “This place was all green and lovely and now we’re going to get stripped for parts.”

“No one is getting _my_ parts!” Finn worried, twisting at his own cuffs to no avail. “Would they have kept us here like this if they meant to take our parts?”

“Maybe they don’t want us for parts then,” Poe said with increasing volume. “Maybe they plan to sell us off intact.” 

Rose rolled her eyes at their hysterics. “Neither of you are doing anything _remotely_ helpful right now.” She hissed out. “We have to figure out how to get out of here.”

“Well, I’m currently cuffed to a wall. Anyone else in a better position?” Poe said with a scathing tone. “No one? Well then, we’re in the same position.” 

“Stop shouting,” Finn hissed out. “You’re making this headache worse.”

“You won’t have to worry about a headache once they take our heads.” Poe reminded him, letting out a frustrated sound as he tried, once again, to free himself from the cuffs. “ _Shit_!”

“No one is taking _anyone’s_ head.” Said an unfamiliar voice. A few seconds later, a young woman emerged from a doorway somewhere to Rose’s left. She couldn’t quite see her in full from her disadvantaged position. Rose craned her neck, twisting her arms painfully as she turned to look at the woman.

She had wild curly hair, dark skin, and looked like she’d been raised to fight. Lean muscles, similar to those in the Resistance that had dedicated their whole lives to the front line. She didn’t look like the sort of person who would be keen on selling someone for parts.

“And who the _hell_ are you?” Poe questioned harshly. 

“Usually it’s the prisoners who answer that type of questioning.” The woman remarked with a thoroughly unamused expression. 

Rose cleared her throat, “Rose Tico. _Commander_ Rose Tico.” 

Poe grumbled something under his breath, “Admiral Poe Dameron.”

“Just Finn.” 

“Are you with the Resistance?” The woman questioned, striding around the hold so they could all see her more clearly. 

“Depends on who’s asking.”

“Poe, would you quit?” Rose snapped, hurting her neck in an effort to shoot him a silencing glare.

“Maybe if someone removed these cuffs, I’d be a bit more amenable.” 

“Yes!” Rose said firmly as she looked towards their captor. “We’re with the Resistance. Who are _you_ with?”

“No one.” The woman answered simply, her hand resting menacingly on the blaster at her hip. “Those that call Kef Bir home are _free_.” 

“Wait—” Finn’s eyes widened. “You’re the voice on the radio.”

“You heard the broadcast?” The woman questioned, “You’re not a Stormtrooper. Why did you come?”

“I _was_ a Stormtrooper!” Finn said joyously, laughing as he slumped back against the wall. “FN-2187.”

“TZ-1719.” Their captor moved around the hold, kneeling beside Finn. “ _Jannah_. That’s my name. The one I gave myself after I defected.” She seemed just as relieved as Finn was. “Tiege!” She called out over her shoulder. “Come uncuff our _visitors_ .” Jannah turned her attention back to Finn then, “Wait, did you say _FN-2187_?” 

The man, presumably named Tiege, entered into the hold to uncuff the three of them. Rose rubbed at her wrists once they were freed, grimacing at the angry red marks left behind. 

“I did.” Finn said with a nod, standing a little taller now. Rose had never seen him so _proud_ before. It was rather endearing, if she was being honest. “ _Wait_. Have you heard of me?”

A smile spread across Jannah’s face and she reached out to take Finn’s hand, “You were at Tuanul. You defected.”

“You’ve _heard_ of him?” Poe questioned, looking between Jannah and Finn with a perplexed look. “And just so we’re all making our acquaintances, I was in Tuanul too. Not as a Stormtrooper, but—” Rose elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

“This is Finn’s moment, _shush_.”

“That’s right.” Finn let out a breathless laugh. “I can’t believe anyone knows my name. I mean… not exactly my name — but who I am.” 

The man named Tiege reached out to shake Finn’s hand then, keeping a tight grasp on it as he stared into his eyes. “There are stories about you. About what you did to Phasma.” He gave a wary look towards Rose and Poe, “Who are they?”

“Finn’s kind of a big deal in the Resistance,” Rose jumped in, giving Poe a silencing look before she moved to stand beside Finn. “He put together this trio to find _you_. One of our communications officers picked up your broadcast and it was Finn’s idea to seek out the uprising.”

“It’s not quite an uprising yet,” Jannah cautioned. “You didn’t say you had rank.”

“He’s _really_ humble,” Poe remarked as he strolled over and rested his hand on Finn’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “He’s a Captain.” 

Finn’s eyes widened as he looked between his two friends like they’d lost their damned minds. And maybe they had. Finn _didn’t_ have a rank within the Resistance — which was a complete oversight on their part. Even _she_ had risen through the ranks over the past few months. But Finn hadn’t really seemed that interested in wearing a rank. 

“So, _Captain_ Finn.” Jannah seemed impressed. “Since I know now that you don’t pose a threat, I’d like you to meet the rest of the defectors.” She looked towards Rose and Poe sympathetically. “Apologies for the rough arrival. We’re the only people this side of the ocean and we’re trying to keep it that way.” 

“How many of you are there?” Poe questioned as they followed Jannah and Tiege out of the makeshift prison that had been apparently created in the wreckage of an old transport vessel. 

“My entire unit defected,” Jannah explained, leading them away from the wreckage and towards the campsite that was made up of various classes of ships. “Others have come since… nearly forty.”

“So this is home now?” Rose asked as she met the wary gazes of some of the other members that had emerged from their vessels. 

“As much of a home as we’ve ever had.” Jannah replied, “Kef Bir is a graveyard of the Galactic Empire. We’ve salvaged some from old crash sites, like our pseudo-prison. Bot mostly we’ve made our freedom village out of the vessels we arrived in. Like I said, my entire unit defected. I woke up one morning and something had shifted. That loyalty I was trained to feel was just… _gone_.”

“It was the same for all of us,” Tiege added. “Part of it was _your_ story I think. It was the first spark of rebellion. To know that someone could get out.”

“Kef Bir was along our flight route one morning. Irele,” Jannah gestured to a woman who was close in age to her. “She knew it was an uninhabited moon. Off the grid from the First Order’s efforts. It became home. The first place we _chose_ to call home.” 

Finn seemed overwhelmed. He hadn’t stopped looking at the faces of the other defectors, his eyes shiny with tears that hadn’t fallen yet. “I had no idea there were others.” He said quietly. “I felt so alone. Like there was something _wrong_ with me — that I was the one who woke up.” 

“You were the start.” Jannah said, reaching out to take Finn’s hand. “Come, I want you to meet everyone.” She looked towards Poe and Rose then. “Tiege, make our guests at home. They can stay in the TC-3.”

“We’re not going with Finn?” Poe’s voice seemed to be teetering on the edge of annoyance and Rose followed his line of sight to where Jannah’s hand was curled around Finn’s. “What if this is all some ruse?” You gonna take him back to the FO?”

“ _Poe_.” Finn snapped, “Just go with Rose. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“And where’s the damn Falcon?” Poe questioned, aiming his irritation at Tiege then. “Any ideas?”

“You’ll get your ship back.” Tiege said flatly, looking to Rose then. “Is he always this testy?” 

Rose nodded her head solemnly. “This is mild.”

“What are you in the Resistance? A pilot?” Tiege questioned with a snort of laughter. 

“Laugh it up.” Poe bit out, his jaw set hard. He huffed and puffed for a few seconds as they followed Tiege towards the TC-3 Shuttle. “I don’t like this one bit, Rose.” 

“I couldn’t tell,” She said flatly with a roll of her eyes. “Look Poe, you’re going to have to put aside your issues with the First Order and be happy for Finn. Do you still look at him and think _Stormtrooper_?

“No.” Poe said too quickly. “I look at these people and it makes me remember that there are _real_ people in those suits. I’ve killed people like them, Rose. _Without_ hesitation.” 

Rose’s heart clenched at his words. She knew about the human loss of war _intimately_ — but she tried to disassociate the human mortality behind the masks of the men and women they killed. Neither side of it would walk away without blood on their hands. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and salutations to all my readers! This chapter has, by far, my favorite little FinnPoe moment I've written. I'm a big fan of minor angst through misconceptions. 
> 
> Updates will remain Wednesday/Saturday. So far I've written up to chapter 10! Tentatively I'm going to say that this work will end up being roughly 15 chapters. So this fic will likely wrap up sometime mid-February. 
> 
> Thank you, again, to everyone who has been reading this and reviewing! It means so much to get feedback from you all!

“What if he wants to stay?” Poe worried out loud, staring up at the ceiling as he stretched out on the cot across from Rose. “You don’t think he’d want to stay here, do you?” 

“I don’t think he has any interest of staying here, Poe.” Rose answered with an exhausted sigh. “Just let him have this.”

“I am!” Poe scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’m trying not to let this get to me. But these people — they’re _like_ him. Hell, they all know about him. That’s high praise in a time like this.” There was a lot of things to fear, but losing Finn had taken priority in his mind. 

“Have you considered giving him a _reason_ to want to stay with the Resistance?” Rose suggested, pushing herself up on her elbows to look over at him. “You’re both crazy about each other. Put us all out of our misery.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Poe played dumb, which wasn’t his strong suit. “ _Fine_. Yeah. I’m crazy about him. Happy?”

“You didn’t have to tell me. I knew.”

Poe huffed, rolling onto his side so his back was to her. “We’re good as friends. He’s the best damn co-pilot and gunner I’ve ever had. I don’t want to lose that.”

Rose laughed quietly. “He’s not going to turn you down like he did me, Poe.” 

“Is it weird for you?”

Rose hesitated for a moment, “It _was_ in the beginning. But I got over it. I cared about him outside of whatever romantic feelings I felt. I don’t hold it against him. I’m not going to judge someone for who they choose to love.”

“Easy there.” Poe retorted. “No one said anything about love.”

“Whatever you say.” Rose said with a playful lilt to her tone. “Just tell him. When the moment’s right. He’s waiting for you to do it.” 

“You saw how offended he got about the Finn Dameron thing, didn’t you? Are you certain he’s not going to shoot me down?”

Rose murmured something under her breath. “You embarrassed him. As nervous as you are about changing your friendship, he’s in the same position.” She sighed. “Just go talk to him.”

“ _Fine_!” Poe threw his hands up and moved to get off the cot. “I’ll go. But if this goes badly—“

“It won’t.”

* * *

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” He questioned as he shortened his stride to keep himself beside her as they trudged through the frigid terrain once more. 

Rey scoffed, “I already said _no_. I’m thinking about how I intend to turn this crystal into a lightsaber and I just want to get back to my ship and out of the cold.” 

“But—” He started, but she shot him a silencing glare. She had been off since she’d returned from the depths of the cavern. Her gaze more haunted than before. 

He’d foolishly thought something had shifted between them. She’d kissed him back after all — which had been both surprising and a long time coming. But perhaps it had just been relief that they’d both survived the Asharl attack. After all, he was a fool to think she wanted _him_. No one did. Not even his own parents. 

“Are you going to tell me what color you found?”

“Green.” She snapped out, keeping her eyes focused ahead. 

“I should’ve known,” He chuckled quietly. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The old order believed that those who chose green had chosen the path towards becoming a consular. A Jedi who reflected upon the struggle between light and the dark side of the Force. _Balance_.”

“ _Oh,_ ” Rey responded quietly. “I didn’t realize there was an actual meaning behind it. It made me think about life. Green like trees and grass.” She turned to look at him then, brows furrowed. “What color was yours?”

“Blue.” His hand reaches out to touch the hilt of his lightsaber at his hip. “It became corrupted. Like it’s master. It became the base of the blade I have now.”

Rey’s gaze flickered down to the lightsaber at his hip. “Did you have visions when you went to find your crystal?”

He frowned. “It’s part of the journey. Everyone does.” Kylo reached out and curled his fingers around her arm, urging her to stop. “What did you see, Rey?”

“Myself.” Rey swallowed thickly, keeping her eyes cast downwards. “With a red lightsaber.” She reached down and touched the spot just beneath her ribs. “I drove the lightsaber through myself. She did. Me.” Her voice wavered as she lifted her gaze to meet his. “That’s the future isn’t it?”

He slowly released his hold on her arm, his hand dropping to his side as he reacted to her words. “I think it’s one path.” He admitted. Before — before everything changed — he had seen a path where she turned. He had thought it was the right path. The pair of them seated upon a throne. Shrouded in power and glory. 

Now he wasn’t certain if that was part of their future. If they even had a future. 

“Rey,” He started, his voice wavering as he spoke. “The future is always uncertain. Visions are rarely fulfilled because things shift constantly. But I am certain of one thing.”

She seemed hesitant. “And what is that?”

“You and I are connected.” He wished that this revelation could’ve been made differently. Without the brutal wind whipping around them. Without the bone-shattering chill. Without the knot of anxiety burning within him. “For the past six months I have researched something I learned from the Cult of Sith.”

“You mean you _interrogated_ information out of them.”

“Yes.” He sighed. “But they’re _bad_ people, Rey. They intend to do harm to everything you love if they succeed in their plans.”

“But I’m part of those plans, aren’t I?”

His shoulders sagged. “The Force created you and I to serve as a dyad. Equals in the Force. Counterweights. Neither of us can rise or fall without the other feeling it.”

“You mean the _bond_ that we share?” Rey questioned, eyes narrowed as she stared up at him. “And what does that _mean_ , Ben?”

“I have spent my entire life as a pawn to the Dark side.” He admitted, leaning into the anguish he felt. “From the moment I was conceived, there have been voices — forces I couldn’t control. Twisting my life to their benefit. Then there was you and for _once…_ everything was quiet for a moment.”

“I can’t be the reason you decide to change, Ben. You can’t put that weight on me.” She pressed her palms flush to his chest and shoved him backwards. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s not that!” He insisted. “I know it’s my own weight to carry. But you and I are connected whether you like it or not.”

“This war _has_ to end, Ben.” Rey plead with him. “I have lost too many people I care about already.”

“So have I!” He shouted, anguish twisting into anger. “I loved my father! I loved my uncle! Don’t act like either of them were more to _you_ than they were to me.” He pointed at her.

“I will bite your finger off if you put it in my face again.” She threatened. 

He dropped his hand, “We have to do this together, Rey.”

“I don’t have to do anything with _you_.” 

The look on her face reminded him of before. Pain and betrayal. The loss of something you never yours to lose. 

“Then leave, Rey. No one is stopping you.” He let his head fall back and he stared up at the sky. “Run back to the Resistance and continue hiding your potential. I’ll do this alone.” Just like everything else.

“Ben, that’s not—”

“I said _go_.”

Rey took a step backwards, eyes searching his face. “Can you do it alone?”

His clenched his eyes closed for a moment, steadying his breathing, before he started forward — brushing too closely past her without an answer. Of course, he couldn’t do it alone. Everything he’d researched seemed skeptical that the two of them together could even stop what had been set into motion. 

He started off across the frozen ground, eyes trained ahead even as the wind blew into his face harshly. Rey was at his heels. He could hear her complaining loudly about his long strides as she tried to keep up with him. 

He’d been a fool to think anything would change because they had shared a kiss. No one wanted him, why would Rey be any different? Worst of all was the fact that he knew she was right to stay away from him. 

Rey was the first strike in his undoing. 

“Are you _really_ going to leave it like this?” Rey questioned, grabbing onto the fabric of his cloak and forcing him to stop. He debated for a moment if it would be more beneficial to release the cloak from his shoulders and leave it behind. He didn’t want to keep doing this with her. Their common ground was consistently sinking sand. 

“ _Rey_.” He snapped harshly, jerking the cloak out of her grasp as he turned around to face her. “You don’t want to have a part in this. You’ve made that clear. Let me go.” 

“You don’t understand what you’re asking of me.” Rey kept her voice steady, but he could see tears shining in her eyes. “Finn, Poe, Rose — they’re my _family_. You’re asking me to turn my back on them. You might be able to turn your back on your family, but they are _everything_ I have.” 

She wasn’t getting it. Of course, she wasn’t getting it. As if walking away from his family had been an easy choice or a choice at all. “I’m not asking you to turn your back on them. But if we don’t stop this, your _family_ won’t matter.” 

“Fine.” Rey accepted and the weight of that seemed to drag her shoulders down. “What do you expect me to do?” 

“Go back to your ship and work on your lightsaber.” 

Rey chewed on her bottom lip as she looked away from him, staring out over the rolling snow-covered hills. “And then what?” 

“I will need to return to the _Finalizer_ to gather the artefacts.” He kept his eyes focused on her face. “There is a planet in the Unknown Regions that requires a little effort to reach. We will have to go together. That is where the Sith cultists are gathering to begin this. “ 

“I don’t know much,” Rey started, slowing turning her head back to meet his gaze. “But I think it’s a terrible plan.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’ve already told me they need a sacrifice from the light side of the Force to complete this. As well as the artefacts.” She narrowed her eyes. “It sounds like you’re trying to make their job easier.”

He clenched his teeth together. “That wasn’t what I was planning.”

“I wasn’t saying you were.” Rey hesitantly reached out and curled her fingers around his forearm. “I _don’t_ think you’re trying to get me killed. Especially not if this dyad thing is true.” Her teeth clattered together and she released her hold on his arm to curl her arms around her waist. “But I am about to die from frostbite. We can continue this discussion in the Commuter.” 

Kylo nodded his head stiffly, gesturing for her to lead the way back to their ships. She had a point. Perhaps it was foolhardy to think that they could simply arrive on Exegol, with the artefacts, and themselves and not fall into a trap. How much of the plan had been his own, to begin with? 

How much of it had been formed by the voices in his mind? That darkness that tried to occupy every corner of his mind. 

He knew that she still held out hope for him — hope that he could still find the light. But he feared, that like his lightsaber, he was too corrupted by the darkness. 

* * *

“What a surprise,” Hux said smoothly as he found himself cornered by Officer Phyta once more. “Have you come bearing new surprises?” He questioned, tucking his hands behind his back and standing a little taller. He was already a head taller than the young woman, but he enjoyed adding that extra inch of imposing stature over her. The same way the Supreme Leader strode around the _Finalizer_ — head and shoulders taller than everyone. 

“The Supreme Leader clearly did not wish to be found,” Officer Phyta explained as she passed a datapad to Hux. “I worked diligently through the night to try to trace the flight path his ship took. “Despite his best efforts, he was not prepared for tracking satellites in the 7G Sector.”

Hux’s brows rose upwards, “The 7G Sector?” There was no reason for Kylo Ren to be in that region. None of the artefacts he was collecting had been documented in that sector. “Were you able to identify what planet he visited?” 

Officer Phyta grinned brightly. “One of the moons of Ilum.” 

“Where we lost the Starkiller base?” Now _that_ was certainly puzzling. 

“That’s not all.” The officer nodded her head towards the datapad. “The satellite registered _another_ vessel passing through the sector — headed for the _same_ moon.” He recognized the markings on the vessel, it was part of the Rebel’s haphazard fleet. 

Hux glared down at the datapad, reading through the information Phyta had compiled for him. It was _impressively_ thorough. The young officer had certainly proven herself to be a worthy member of the First Order — willing to gather details about their leader. Perhaps too willing. 

“This is _good_ work, Officer Phyta.” Hux said, lips drawn into a cruel smile. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing firmly. “Do you have aspirations within the First Order?”

“I do, sir.” She said with a short nod. “I believe I have the potential to prove myself here.”

Hux nodded his head solemnly, tucking the datapad under his arm as he released his grip on her shoulder. “On your way. The First Order commends you for your faithful efforts towards our cause. They won’t be forgotten.” 

The look of _joy_ on her face in response to praise forced him to resist rolling his eyes. There was no place in the First Order for members who were _gleeful_ about usurping figures of authority. He turned and strode away from her, cornering the first pair of Stormtroopers he encountered. “I have a special task for you.” He kept his voice low, “Officer Phyta must be eliminated. I have good reason to believe that she is a spy for the rebels.” 

The Stormtroopers were more than happy to follow his command. It would be quiet and efficient, of that General Hux was certain. In the meantime, while they handled the red herring — he had something else to attend to. 

There _was_ a spy within the First Order, but it wasn’t Officer Phyta. There was nothing noble at his own efforts. Every action he took was to dismantle the plans of the _new_ Supreme Leader. He had his reasons to believe that Kylo Ren had orchestrated Supreme Leader Snoke’s death and if he had arrived a few seconds sooner — he would’ve killed the man before he awoke. 

General Hux made his way towards the flight deck, safely securing himself in one of the TIE Fighter cockpits to send his transmission. It wasn’t the first time he smuggled information outside of the First Order. But this was, quite possibly, the most scandalous information he had relayed to the rebels. 

One of theirs had rendezvoused with the Supreme Leader. If he were a betting man, he’d place all his credits on it being the scavenger girl. He’d witnessed, firsthand, the way Kylo Ren behaved around her. It was suspicious. Even Snoke had been suspicious of his _affections_. 

What would the rebels think of their little Jedi cavorting with the enemy? 

As he slid the chip into the console to transmit it halfway across the galaxy. He couldn’t help but feel the _power_ that he always longed for. Kylo Ren had made the wrong enemy in General Hux. 

* * *

Tiege came for Rose and Poe late into the evening. They had prepared a modest dinner for the encampment and Jannah had encouraged the residents to come and break bread with their new friends. Finn seemed _really_ excited and Poe tried to mask his frustration every time his friend looked at him. Because he was happy for Finn — he knew he’d been looking for his place in things. He had been since he first met him. 

Rose had been right. Of course, she was, as much as it made his blood boil. She was almost nearly _always_ right when it came to the stupid ideas he came up with. Years of wisdom and insight packaged into such a small person. But they both cared about Finn and whenever their conversations turned to him — he knew she was advising him with her whole heart. 

“Hey buddy,” Poe started as he moved to join Finn on a bench that had been fashioned out of an old X-Wing. “Have you had a good day?”

Finn tore off a bit of bread and chewed it as he nodded. “The stories they have to tell. The things they’ve seen. The reasons they left.” He gave an incredulous laugh. “I never thought I’d find others like me. And can you believe some of them had heard of _me_?”

Poe grinned at him. “You’re a pretty special person. Of course, they’d heard of you.” He nudged him gently with his elbow. “ _Captain_ Finn.”

He made a face. “What the hell was Rose thinking? I don’t have a rank.”

“They don’t need to know.” Poe glanced around at the people gathered around the fire. It reminded him of their Rebel base — that sense of belonging. Of being a family brought together by a difficult situation. He could see the appeal. “Besides, it suits you.” 

“Did they treat you and Rose good?” Finn questioned as he swirled his bread in a bit of the stew they were eating. “I warned Jannah that you two had to be treated as good as they were treating me.” 

He waved his hand, “Oh yeah. They put us up in some quarters in an old TC-3. We napped a bit.” 

“That sounds _really_ good right about now.” Finn said with a short laugh. “I’m wiped after today. It was a lot.”

“But it’s been good, right?” Poe questioned as he sat his plate and bowl down on the ground beside his feet. “Today’s been _good_ for you?” 

“Best day of my life.” Finn said without hesitation. “This is what I’ve been waiting for… this is _something_. Jannah and I were discussing how to make this bigger. The next steps for bringing more defects here.”

“ _Here_?”

“Yeah.” Finn nodded, taking another bite of his stew. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Pacing myself.” Poe lied. The truth was that his stomach was _killing_ him. He had spent most of the afternoon with anxiety turning his gut inside out and the thought of eating really wasn’t that appealing, despite how hungry he was. “You should stay.”

“ _What_?” Finn leaned away from Poe, brows drawn together with a look of confusion. “You want me to stay here?”

“I mean, aren’t you happy here?”

Finn stared at him and the longer he stared at him, the more foolish he felt. “Today’s been _nice_ , but I was looking forward to getting home and telling everyone about our new allies. You think I should stay?”

“No!” Poe felt like a jackass now. “Not at all. I mean, if you wanted to, it’s not really my place to say anything. But, no… your place is with the Resistance. At least it is to me.” He ducked his head and raked his fingers through his hair. “Finn, I think we should talk.” 

Finn sat his own food aside and sighed heavily. “Yeah, I think we should too.” 

Poe glanced up, catching the look of sorrow on Finn’s face as he started to get up. “We don’t have to do this right now.” 

“I think now’s a good time.” 

Poe stayed on the bench for a moment after Finn had gotten up. He looked across the campfire at Rose who was mouthing ‘ _kiss him_ ’ across the flames. It was a splendid idea, if he thought _that_ was what Finn was looking for. But he felt like they kept side-stepping each other at every turn.

He finally accepted his fate, excusing himself from the campfire and following after Finn a few hundred meters beyond the edge of the encampment. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, trying to act casual as he approached his friend. 

“Look—”

“It’s just—”

Finn laughed tensely at their attempt to talk at the same time. “Go ahead.”

“No, you go ahead.” Poe shrugged his shoulders. 

“ _Please_.” Finn pursed his lips as he stared at Poe. “You’re the one who said you wanted to talk.”

“Right.” Poe kicked at a loose rock beneath his foot, trying to summon the courage and sensible words to explain himself. Rose had acted like it was so bloody easy to just admit one’s feelings. _Banthashit_. “Okay, well… You know I care about you right?” Finn nodded. “I gave you a name. I gave you my jacket. I’d give you every second of my day if I could.” He scratched at the back of his neck as he glanced up at him. His expression was unreadable which almost made it all worse. 

“You don’t have to say it.”

“No, I _do_ have to say it!” Poe countered, throwing his hands up in defeat. “We have been beating around the damned bush for the past four months at least and I’m so done with it. I know I raz you about the Finn Dameron incident — Do you really not remember that night at all?”

Finn put his hands on his hips and took a step away, before turning back around to stare at him. “It’s an unfortunate blur. Why?”

“Because I told you that you should take my name and Beau ran his damn mouth off about how it would make us brothers.” Poe stomped his foot against the ground out of frustration. He stared at Finn, waiting — _praying_ that he would realize what he was getting at. 

But Rose was right, Finn was just as scared as he was. He could tell from the way Finn was chewing on the inside of his bottom lip, a bad habit he’d picked up from Rey and her own brand of worrying. 

Instead of waiting to share more useless words with him, Poe decided to put action to work. He took a few steps forward to bridge the distance between them. It had been _years_ since he’d been interested in someone. He’d casually dated a couple of people when he was training to be a pilot — but no one had interested him since Finn had entered his life. 

Poe didn’t give Finn any time to react. His fingers curled around the back of his head, lips desperately meeting his. He didn’t move at first, lips stone still against Poe’s. It lasted long enough to make him panic that he’d made a serious mistake. But just as he started to pull back, Finn’s fingers gripped at his leather coat, holding him steady as his lips _finally_ slanted over his own. 

Finn pulled back from the kiss first, breathing heavily as he pressed his forehead against Poe’s. “You’re an _idiot_ for thinking I wanted to stay here.” 

Poe laughed, his cheeks feeling flushed in response. “I’m seeing that now.”

Finn shook his head. “That’s _definitely_ not the plan.” He brushed his knuckles against Poe’s cheek, grinning brightly at him. “Were you really that worried?”

“I have ulcers because of you!” Poe said dramatically, shoving Finn lightly. “I think we owe Rose a week of R&R when we get back to base. She has put up with some shit from us.”

Finn scrunched up his nose. “She’s something special. She believes in love, which a war like this needs more of.” He reached down and took Poe’s hand and they both marveled at it. _Finally,_ something good had happened. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had the cold from hell this week and haven't been able to write as much as I was hoping to. But here's Chapter Seven for you all! Thank you again for continuing to read this! I'll hopefully get to replying to comments this evening!

“I thought you were going back to the _Finalizer,_ ” Rey remarked as she glanced to her left and took in the sight of Ben standing in the doorframe, leaning against it like he owned the _kriffing_ ship. Frankly, it was obnoxious, how casual he could be. She still couldn’t believe they’d kissed. It had been such a fleeting moment and yet, she’d already replayed it in her mind a dozen times since then.

“I decided to wait.” 

BB-8 beeped nervously, rolling back and forth as the droid fixed its attention on the intruder. 

“He’s safe, BB-8.” Rey assured the droid, reaching down to pat its side gently. “I’m trying to focus on constructing my lightsaber. I need to focus.”

“You’re not done yet?”

She shook her head, “I had to take apart the other lightsaber to figure out what I needed to create my own. I’ve seen diagrams — your uncle had plenty in his texts. But I needed to see how it worked since I’m working from memory.” 

“How does it look?”

Rey rolled her eyes at his insistence. “It’s not done yet.” She used her body to shield his gaze, which didn’t do much as he stepped closer. She was hyper-aware of his proximity and she shifted away, thankful that he seemed to understand her hesitations. 

“Double bladed?”

“I used my staff.” Rey explained, rubbing her hand across her forehead. “I had seen a design for one before. In the texts. It felt right considering my staff has been my weapon of choice for my entire life.” She curled her fingers around the middle of the staff, closing her eyes as she focused on the crystal within it.

Despite her protests, it _was_ nearly finished. She just hadn’t wanted to admit that she was still perfecting it; trying to make certain the mechanics of it worked correctly. It ignited in her hand, two, emerald toned, blades jutted out from either side of the hilt. “The energy channel was the most difficult, but I finally figured it out.” 

Ben _actually_ smiled at her. The second genuine smile she’d seen in as many days. “It suits you.” 

“I’ve never had something that was my own.” Rey admitted to him as she made the blades retract and she sat the lightsaber back down on the table. “Everything on Jakku was secondhand or scavenged… even my lightsaber had belonged to someone else. But this is _mine_.” 

“I told you that you needed your own.” His eyes flickered to the other lightsaber that was discarded on the work table. “May I?”

Rey hesitated. She had been entrusted with the protection of that particular lightsaber. The very one he’d so desperately wanted. She reached for it, turning then to face Ben. “Have you earned it?” 

He blinked down at her. “We both know the answer is _‘no’_.” He countered, dropping his hands to his sides as he stared at the lightsaber. “Just keep it.”

“It belongs to your family.” 

He shrugged. “That family doesn’t even recognize me. Skywalker may run in my veins, but no one cares.” 

“I do.” Rey said a soft smile. “I mean, I don’t _care_ about what blood runs in your veins. But I do care about _where_ you come from. You have that history.” She sighed and shook her head slowly. “Some of us wish we knew just a single name from our family.” 

“I know.” He nodded his head slowly. “Just take care of it.” Ben started to turn to walk away, but Rey caught his hand and placed the lightsaber into his grasp. 

“It belongs to you.”

He curled his fingers around the hilt slowly, staring at it in sheer disbelief. He turned it over in his palm, testing the weight of it in his hold. “Thank you.”

“Don’t make me regret giving it to you.” Rey warned him, pointing a finger at him. She studied him for a quiet moment, before she returned to working on her lightsaber. It was nearly perfect, but she wasn’t thrilled with the hilt yet. 

“I should return to the First Order soon. They’ll be wondering where I am.” He said after the silence lingered between them uncomfortably wrong. 

“Is the Supreme Leader not free to go about his own way?” Rey taunted, glancing back over her shoulder at him with a smirk. “I need to head back Ajan Kloss too.”

He nodded his head slowly, still focused on the lightsaber in his hold. “Then we can sort out what our plan is.”

“I plan to talk to your mother,” Rey confessed, waiting for the fall out that didn’t come out. He looked resigned to that fact, not pissed off. Some of the fight she’d come to accept in him seemed lacking now. “Is that alright?”

He shrugged his shoulders and attached the lightsaber to his hip beside his own blade. “I don’t think my opinion matters. Does it? You’ll confide in her regardless.”

“She still hopes to see you again, Ben.”

“I know.” Ben kept his gaze lowered, looking anywhere but at her. It took him a moment before he added, “How is she?”

“Very weak. Maz is doing all she can, but she’s… There are contingency plans for _that_.”

“When it happens, keep it quiet.” He warned. “The First Order will strike if they know.”

Rey nodded her head slowly and let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “You could come back with me.” It was vain to even hope that he would do that. 

“ _Rey_.”

“I know.” She turned to face him then. “I feel your conflict. You’re sinking further and further into a place that I can’t follow you to.”

“I know what I have to do, Rey.” He said quietly. “I have known all along that there is a price for everything I have done.”

“But what happens to our bond?” Rey hated how wounded her voice sounded. The tremble of her lip. Her eyes burned with tears she willed not to fall. “You tell me we’re some legendary _dyad_ and then act like you’re going to die.”

“You have to be prepared for that.” He said harshly. “We are playing a dangerous game. I have no allies in the First Order. My power is scant. But I cannot let Darth Sidious rise again. Not after everything he put my family through. No matter the cost.”

“We can do this together.” Rey insisted. 

“Yes,” He said distantly. “We _can_ do this together, but I’m prepared to end it alone.” Ben cautiously approached her, reaching out to take her hand, his thumb brushing over the back of it. “Go back home, Rey.”

“Come with me.” Rey whispered. Her heartfelt as though it was breaking in her chest. She was setting herself up for failure because she knew he’d say no. She knew that whatever hope she held onto was all for nothing. 

Ben kept his fingers curled around her hand, his eyes fixed on her face — unreadable. His lips parted and for half a second she braced herself in preparation to be kissed again. But it never came. 

“Maybe one day.” He promised, releasing his hold on her hand and striding out of the Star Commuter. Leaving Rey behind, breathless and confused. 

* * *

“You sure you’re fine with leaving them behind?” Finn questioned Jannah as she sat down at the holochess table, looking uncertain about her choices. 

“Tiege has it handled,” Jannah answered. “It’s not the first time any of us have gone off-world before. Besides, I want to be the one to decide if your _rebels_ are the right allies for us.”

Finn gave a stiff nod. “Right. Well, I hope you choose us.” He drummed his fingers against the table. “Our forces aren’t _much_ , but they’re something. We’ve held our own against the First Order and we’re still here to tell about it.”

“I would like to see us work together.” Jannah stated, her eyes flickering around the hold of the Millennium Falcon. “But we’ll need more than just forty defected Stormtroopers to _really_ hit the FO.”

“I know.” Finn hung his head, his jaw clenched tightly. “We got hit hard on Crait. Lost good pilots. And we lost our capital ship.” 

Jannah arched a brow. “Do _you_ think there’s a chance?”

Finn shrugged. “I’m willing to go down in a blaze of glory.” 

Rose emerged from the cockpit, “I’d prefer it if we _didn’t_ go down in a blaze of glory.” She quipped, moving to join Finn and Jannah. “General Organa is working hard to increase our forces. But people are hesitant to join the cause.”

“I don’t fault them.” Jannah said, casually shrugging a single shoulder. “Knowing what the First Order is capable of, they _should_ be hesitant. They’re capable of more than any ragtag team can pull together.”

“ _Yeah_.” Finn grimaced. “But we could still use people like you. People like _us_.” 

“I’ll come and meet your General,” Jannah stated. “And make up my mind. But I’m not making any promises until I know what I’m getting my people into. They depend on me.”

Finn looked to Rose then, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip nervously. An uprising could change everything for them. “Even if you decide not to support us, I want to help you get more people out.”

Jannah seemed intrigued by that. “You’re not going to abandon this cause then?” She pursed her lips thoughtfully, eyes flickering towards Finn then. “If that’s the sort of belief held by your General has — that you don’t abandon someone just because they don’t follow you — then perhaps the Resistance _is_ the right place for my people.”

“What we might lack in size,” Rose started with a hopeful smile. “We make up for with our passion.” She had a point — no matter what happened, that spark of passion never dimmed in any of them. 

* * *

“We didn’t expect you back so soon,” Kaydel called out, her arms folded across her chest as she watched Rey emerge from the Star Commuter, BB-8 close on her heels. “General Organa implied you’d be gone for a week or more.” 

Rey was rather surprised to find the Lieutenant waiting for her. While she had a friendly relationship with Kaydel, she certainly wasn’t one of her favorite people on the base. “I decided I didn’t want to stay gone that long.” She answered vaguely. 

“Did you go anywhere interesting?” Kay questioned, a brow cocked upwards curiously. 

“I—” Rey started, but she hesitated to answer it truthfully. There was no reason to conceal where she’d been. It was all right there in the ship’s data, after all. But something about the way Kaydel was questioning her had rubbed her the wrong way. Why did she _care_ where she’d been? “I followed the guidance of the Force and ventured out to find the components to create a saberstaff.” 

Kaydel narrowed her eyes, her gaze flickering towards the lightsaber at Rey’s hip, before returning to her face. “Interesting.” She nodded her head in the direction of the center of the base. “You should go see General Organa.” 

“I planned to.” Rey said with a slight edge to her voice. She had no idea why Connix was acting so _odd_ about her return. It wasn’t as though Rey had expected some elaborate fanfare in response to her return, but she hadn’t expected this greeting. “I didn’t have any issues with the ship.” She added as she stepped past Kay, giving the woman one last confused look before she headed towards base.

BB-8 beeped inquisitively and Rey couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know what that was about either.” She told the droid with a shrug. Despite the _odd_ welcome she’d received, Rey was mostly just happy to be back in a temperate climate so she could shake the last of the chill from her bones.

“Hey there Rey!” Beaumont called out as Rey walked past his makeshift research station. “Wasn’t expecting you back so soon. Anything _interesting_ happen on your trip?”

Rey stopped abruptly, turning slowly to look back at the man. “Nothing particularly interesting. _Why_?” She questioned, brows furrowed. 

“No reason.” Beau said in a tone that made Rey think there was _definitely_ a reason. Neither Beau nor Connix ever seemed very concerned with what she was up to. Unless they had all headed down to the cantina at the Outpost — that was the only time they’d ever been friendly. Mostly she kept to herself and limited her interactions to just her little group of friends. 

“Alright,” Rey said with a tight-lipped smile before she headed towards the mess hall. Her meeting with Leia could wait a little bit longer. Revealing everything that had occurred with Ben would take time and the rations on the Star Commuter hadn’t been enough to stave off hunger. She hated eating regularly. When she’d lived on Jakku, she’d grown accustomed to the sporadic meals that were rarely enough calories to last her. But she never did get hungry, mostly because her body was just used to being hungry. 

Rey wandered into the mess hall, it was late morning and breakfast had already long been served. The eggs that had been cooked looked less than appetizing, so she snatched a piece of fruit out of the rations supply and moved to eat it at one of the occupied tables. 

“Good morning.” She offered with as much cheer as she could muster, which did little to inspire the Resistance members sitting at the table. Rey tensed as she caught their glares. What the hell had happened while she was gone? “Or _not_ good.” She added humorlessly. 

One of the women got out of her seat, leaving behind a plate that was still full of food. Rey frowned, watching the woman leave. “Did I say something wrong?” She questioned the two men that were still at her table.

“No.” One of them snapped before they both got up and left. 

“What the _hell_ ?” Rey remarked, looking down at BB-8. “That was weird, wasn’t it?” The droid beeped out its affirmative. She tilted her head so she could sniff herself — well _that_ clearly wasn’t the issue. 

Taking her fruit with her, Rey marched across the base towards Leia’s quarters. Even Snap Wexley gave her a dirty look as she passed him, which only made her feel _worse_ because he was nice to everyone. 

Despite the attitudes aimed towards her, nothing had seemed amiss on the base. That alone didn’t help staunch her fear that something had happened in her absence. Something that she should’ve been there to _prevent_. If something had happened — she would never forgive herself. 

Taking a deep breath, Rey pushed open the door to Leia’s quarters and steeled herself for whatever waited for her inside. Leia was seated at her desk, busily working on something on her datapad. Nothing about her quarters seemed to indicate that something bad had happened in her absence. But the look on the General’s face told a different story. 

* * *

“Hey Finn,” Poe remarked as he lingered in the doorway of the main hold, his arms folded across his chest. “Can I talk to you for a minute in the cockpit?” Rose looked amused, but the serious look on his face quickly turned her amusement into concern. 

Finn excused himself from the conversation he was having with Jannah and followed Poe down the corridor to the cockpit. “What is it?” He questioned as he watched Poe shut the door behind them. 

“ _Well_ ,” Poe started, brows drawn together with concern. “I don’t know what the hell her people did to the Falcon, but we’ve been leaking fuel since we left the Kef Bir. Didn’t want to make a big deal about it, because I thought it was small enough that we could make it back to base. However—“ Poe moved towards the systems panel on the wall and pointed at a flashing red sensor that showed the depleted fuel levels. “It’s taken a turn for the worse.”

“Shit.” Finn breathed out, brows drawn together with concern. “What’s the nearest planet?”

“Already sorted that out,” Poe said as he settled into the pilot seat. “Ryloth is one jump away and they have a fueling outpost.”

“Then that’s settled.” Finn said as he moved to sit in the jump seat beside Poe. “Not ideal, but…” He shrugged a shoulder. “Let’s not bring up that you’re accusing her people.”

“Look, our ship was in good condition when we landed.” He countered. “I’m just saying, there’s a correlation.” 

Finn’s brows rose upwards. “And I said, let’s not bring it up. Just get us to Ryloth and we’ll deal with it from there.”

Poe gave him a look. “Fine. _Whatever_.” He held his hands up in mock-defense. “I’m not saying I don’t trust that gut feeling of yours, but I’m not going to ignore my own.”

Finn pinched at the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. “Is this because they used to be Stormtroopers? Is that why you’ve got an issue with them?”

Poe started to answer, but he stopped himself from giving his immediate response. He could deny it, but they’d both know it was a lie. “I’m not saying that’s my main concern.” He flipped a switch on the console and readied the ship to jump. “But yeah, maybe I’ve got a bit of an issue with it. I get it — kid soldiers, brainwashing, all that. But it’s hard to look at them and not think that maybe they killed people I knew.”

“Do you look at me and see that?”

Poe stared at Finn for a long moment, debating whether or not he should actually answer that. “Sometimes.” He focused his attention on reducing the ship’s output to conserve the fuel levels. “It’s not that I look at you think _Stormtrooper_. I tried to explain this to Rose before and I can’t articulate it right. I’ve been in this for my entire life. My parents were in before me. They dedicated their entire lives to rebuilding this world so that it was better for my generation.”

Finn reached out and rested his hand on Poe’s arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “This sounds like it’s about more than just Stormtroopers.” 

“ _Yeah_.” Poe rested his hand over Finn’s, his lips pressed together into a thin line. “This whole war thing is coming to an end.” He said quietly, keeping his eyes trained straight ahead. “Good people are going to die. On _both_ sides. Because those people are just like you and Jannah and everyone else that has defected. And then what? We’re just supposed to pick up the pieces and pretend that everything’s alright. If we even survive.” 

It was quiet in the cockpit for a long time after Poe stopped talking. Finn kept one hand on Poe’s arm as he used his other hand to help with the controls. What was there to be said? He wanted to believe that the defectors were all ready to jump into war alongside them, he really _did_. 

Finn was different — he’d seen him in action, he knew which side of the war he stood on and it was beside him. It was the blind faith side to this whole uprising that he struggled with. He didn’t know these people… how could he trust them?

“I’m trying.” Poe offered. 

“I know you are.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a moment that I _desperately_ wish that we'd been given in TROS. I hope I did it service, as I know others wanted it as well. Also, can I just say.... I've really loved writing Rose and I think I'll miss her most of all once I'm finished with this fic.... which is getting near to its end. I'm up to writing chapter 13 which is terrifying! Currently, like I said before, I think I'll finish this at chapter 15 and around 50,000 words, which is a nice novella length. 
> 
> Thank you again to all the lovely readers who have read, reviewed, kudo'd, and bookmarked this fic. I know it doesn't have much of a following, but each and every one of you mean the world to me!

_Ben_. Rey had called him that a dozen times in the short period of time they had spent together on Ilum’s moon. It had slipped off her tongue like second nature. A name that was still new to her came easy, yet it still felt foreign to the man who had worn it for nearly twenty-five years. He had given up the name _Ben_ when his family had given up on him. 

It had been Snoke’s doing. Ben hadn’t become a Sith, nor did he have any desires to follow his grandfather down that path. But he was no longer Ben Solo — that was a name that belonged to a Jedi who had, for all intents and purposes, died. The Knights of Ren had surrounded him in the wake of the destruction of the Temple. Terrifying warriors that, despite not being Force sensitive, were formidable foes. The Knights of Ren were Snoke’s followers — his henchmen. But their loyalty had been a gift given to him by the late Supreme Leader. 

Each one of them, a knight of _Ren_ … and so Kylo Ren had been born. 

But with each passing day, he wondered how much of Kylo Ren had _died_. 

“I need your guidance,” He plead as he stood before the ruined mask of Darth Vader. “The call to the light… I feel it more than I ever have. I need to know if it is enough for what must be done.” 

Silence. 

He tore the glove from his hand and reached out to place bare fingers against the forehead of the helmet. 

The silence seemed to swell around him and then—

_When surrounded by war, one must eventually chose a side._

His eyes flew open and he looked warily around his stark quarters. He was alone. There was no evidence of Rey anywhere to be found. Not that the voice was Rey’s — but he’d grown so used to her intrusions into the silence of his existence. But that wasn’t her voice. 

He looked towards Darth Vader’s mask, staring into the empty eye holes. 

“I know who I should be beside,” He said quietly, reaching out to trace his fingertips over the mask once more. “But what if _she_ is on the wrong side of this war?” That wasn’t true, of course. Rey was too steadfast in her beliefs of _good_ to be on the wrong side. She would never turn against the Resistance, not the way he wished to turn against the First Order. The First Order had _never_ been part of his plans. It had been a side effect. A curse, really.

_You are the last of many lines, Ben. Do you wish for it to end this way?_

“After all this time…” He shook his head slowly as he stared down at the mask. “Now you choose to speak to me?” A sound behind him made him turn, his heart beating faster as he came face-to-face with a Force Ghost standing before him.

“Because you wanted to speak to Darth Vader and at the end of my life, I was Anakin.” The ghost answered, a faint smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. 

He had never known what his grandfather looked like — everyone who had known him like _this_ had been long gone by the time he was born. Staring at him now, he saw the evidence of their familial connection. Though everyone had always told him that he looked like his father, he saw his grandfather in himself. 

“Did you feel as conflicted as I do? Did you still feel the draw to the light?” He had no one else who understood how it felt. Even when he was younger, before everything happened, he had no one to discuss his internal war with. He had been pushed into a corner by everyone who claimed to love him, while his mind tore itself apart because of the Dark Side. 

Anakin shook his head slowly. “Maybe if things had been different. But when I lost Padme, I lost the only person who was capable of bringing me back to the light. If I had known about Luke and Leia before the end... perhaps things would have been different.” 

“Rey is the reason I feel anything at all.” Since becoming Kylo Ren he had been careful to keep his emotions concealed. Snoke had been _forceful_ in his insistence that the only emotions he needed were anger and hated. But from that first moment that they’d reached into each other’s minds — he hadn’t been able to keep his emotions held back. 

Anakin arched a brow, “You care for her.” 

“She made me feel like I wasn’t alone.” He admitted, lowering his gaze to the floor. “It’s complicated.” 

“Things tend to be complicated for Skywalkers,” Anakin remarked with a short chuckle of amusement. “But you care for her?” 

“There is no version of the future I wish to explore that doesn’t have her in it.” He had witnessed so many fragments of their potential futures — he had seen her turn to the Dark Side, he had seen her pull him back into the light. He had seen moments that felt like wishful fantasies. How could there be a place for him in the Resistance? After everything he had been part of, who would want him there? Except Rey and his mother. 

“ _Ben_.” 

He stared at his grandfather, jaw clenched tightly. Why was it so hard for him to admit aloud that Rey meant _everything_ to him? Perhaps because it was the most irrational thing he’d felt to date. They were not so far removed from a time where she would’ve gladly left him for dead. And yet, with each passing day, he foolishly found himself yearning for a future where she chose him. “I do.” 

“Was that so hard to admit?”

“I don’t need this from you too.” He snapped at the ghost, turning his back on him. “Is this the purpose of Force Ghosts these days?”

Anakin laughed heartily. “Oh, if only Obi-Wan were here to see that my grandson might be more insufferable than I was. He wouldn’t believe me.” He was far too amused with Ben’s plight. “The irony that you were named after him is certainly not lost.”

“Did you come to guide me or did you come to mock me?”

“You already know what you have to do, Ben.” Anakin offered as his expression sobered. “I think you’ve known for longer than you’re willing to admit.”

“And Darth Sidious?” He questioned. 

“Can and _must_ be stopped,” Anakin said warily. “Do what those before you were unable to do.” The ghost of his grandfather slowly faded away, until he was once again alone in his quarters. “Stop him once and for all.”

“Wait!” He shouted, moving towards the empty space where the man had stood before him. He had more questions — there was so much more he wanted to know.

But he was alone once more. 

* * *

Rey sat cross-legged on the floor of Leia’s quarters, waiting patiently for Maz to finish her meeting with the General. Neither of them had treated her strangely when she’d arrived. Which had been a relief, but it hadn’t answered any of her questions. 

Maz appeared from behind the curtain, a worried look etched into her expression. “She is quite weak today,” She cautioned Rey as she approached her and placed her hand on her shoulder. 

“But not _too_ weak,” Leia remarked as she slowly stepped out from behind the curtain, adjusting the sleeves of her shirt as she approached her chair. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon, Rey.”

Maz nodded her head to both women, before excusing herself. 

“My plans changed once I left.” Rey said as she picked at the hem of her leggings. 

“I’m aware,” Leia said with a quiet sigh. “While you were away, the base received a transmission from the First Order.”

Rey’s eyes widened and she stared at the General. “ _What_?”

“It would seem they have a spy.” She offered and Rey wasn’t the least bit surprised by this news. Ben had said as much about his issues with the First Order. 

“What was the transmission?”

“That a member of the Resistance was meeting with the Supreme Leader in the 7G Sector. Would you know anything about that Rey?”

The color drained from her cheeks. “ _Oh_. Yes, Ben and I met there. He suggested that I needed a lightsaber of my own. We went to find a kyber crystal for my blade.” She removed the lightsaber from her hip and placed it on the ground in front of her. “Is that why everyone treated me like a pariah?”

“Unfortunately Connix forgot protocol in her haste. Rather than bringing the transmission directly to me, she allowed it to be spread around the base. A thoughtless mistake.” Leia folded her hands across her lap. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you…” 

“Hush.” Leia waved a hand. “I knew you intended to find him, Rey. That did not surprise me. But the issue is that some of the members of the Resistance are not so willing to understand your situation.”

“It’s more of a situation than even you know.” Rey stated, crossing her arms across her chest to mask the way her fingers trembled anxiously. “Ben has been researching something called a _Force Dyad_. Allegedly, that's what we are. Why we have the bond that we do.” 

“That’s certainly _new_ ,” Leia remarked with an arched brow. “I’m not as familiar with the Force and its ways as Luke was, but… I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a _dyad_.” 

“It’s rare,” Rey said with a shrug. “I don’t know much either, honestly.” She lowered her gaze to the ground once more. “He’s so close to turning, Leia. I spent time with Ben, not Ren. Not the Supreme Leader. He was witty and smart and…” 

“He has all of his father’s charms.” Leia said with a smirk. 

“I only knew Han for a short time, but I can see that.” Rey couldn’t help but smile at that, a faint blush spreading over her cheeks. Her mind wandered back to the too-brief kiss she’d shared with Ben. Affection complicated everything. “Snoke was not the greatest threat we had to face.” Rey cautioned quietly, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

“What do you mean?” Leia questioned. 

Rey sat up a little straighter, “Are you familiar with the Cult of Sith?” Leia nodded. “They are apparently attempting to resurrect Darth Sidious. Ben has been working to collect relics to stall their efforts — but this is something the First Order wants. The promise of an Empire. He and I plan to stop this, but… there’s no clear plan. If we go, we may very well be playing into their plans.” 

“I see.” Leia pursed her lips thoughtfully, tapping her finger against her lips. “Darth Sidious would be a formidable foe for the Resistance. When I was your age, his leadership led to the Empire committing heinous acts of genocide. The same technology that was used to destroy the Hosnian system. We didn’t learn from the past.” 

“Ben needs a safe passage out of the First Order,” Rey said quietly. “He knows that his time with them is coming to a close and this spy just proves that. If we lose him, we can’t defeat Darth Sidious.” 

“That is easier said than done, Rey.” Leia cautioned her. “As it is, there are those that would like to see you confined to your quarters. I don’t foresee bringing Ben here as a wise decision. But we must move quickly if we’re to be prepared for the inevitable return of Darth Sidious.” 

Rey moved to stand, dusting off her clothes as she stood before Leia. “We’re coming to the end of _everything_ , aren’t we?”

Leia nodded her head slowly, her expression somber. “It would seem that we are. I want to do as much as I can before I cannot.” 

“How bad is it?” Rey questioned, blinking to hold back the tears burning at her eyes. 

“I know that my time is coming, Rey.” Leia held out her hand and Rey took hold of it, squeezing tightly. “I have prepared as much as anyone can. But I _would_ like to see my son one last time.” 

“He knows.” She offered as she stared down at their hands. 

Leia smiled softly, “I know he does.” She squeezed Rey’s hand before releasing it. “I believe in you Rey. I believe in both of you.” 

* * *

“You should have told me what was going on!” Rose stomped her foot, her eyes darting between Finn and Poe with a look of pure fury. “Jannah’s _lovely_ , but we ran out of things to discuss when my sister’s death got brought up.” Her fingers instinctively curled around the necklace that hung around her neck. 

Finn held up his hands, taking a step backwards. “Once Poe told me what was going on, I didn’t want to make a big deal about.” Maybe it hadn’t been the right decision, maybe they should have told Rose — but he didn’t want Poe playing the blame game. 

“Quick stop. Forty minutes tops.” Poe said as he rubbed his hands together and moved past Rose. Finn trailed after him, “We’ll get a droid to patch the line and get things refilled.”

Jannah cut them off at the ramp, arms folded across her chest. “Is there a reason why we’ve stopped?” She questioned, eyes narrowed as she looked between Finn and Poe. 

“Ask Finn.” Poe stated as he stepped around Jannah and headed out of the Falcon.

Finn laughed awkwardly, “Funny story, actually.”

Rose approached with an expectant look. “Can’t wait to see you get out of this one.” 

“ _Rose_!” Finn glared at her. “Look,” He turned towards Jannah then. “We ran into some issues with the fuel line. Poe’s got it handled. There’s nothing to worry about.” 

“Hey, Finn!” Poe called from down the ramp. “We’ve got an issue.” 

Finn raked his hands over his face and groaned. “It never ends.” He grumbled, before heading down the ramp. “What is it?” He questioned as he rounded the side of the Falcon and stopped abruptly. 

A Stormtrooper had Poe held at blasterpoint. “It’s probably gonna take a little longer than forty minutes.” He remarked humorlessly. 

Finn reached for his own blaster, but the Stormtrooper was quick to turn his weapon on him then. “It doesn’t have to go this way.” He cautioned, moving his hand away from his hip and holding his hands up. 

The Stormtrooper pointed the blaster at Poe then, when he made a move to grab his own weapon. 

“It’s two against one,” Poe remarked far too cockily. “You’re outnumbered.” 

“Two undrawn weapons are useless against a drawn weapon.” The Stormtrooper stated, turning his head to look towards Finn then, gesturing for him to join Poe. “State your business on Ryloth.” 

“ _Well_ ,” Finn started, keeping his hands up. Poe had other plans, reaching for his blaster in a quick motion and drawing it on the Stormtrooper. “Poe! Put that down.” Finn snapped at him, looking between him and the Stormtrooper. “It doesn’t have to go this way.” He remarked as he stared at the Stormtrooper.

“It doesn’t have to go this way.” The Stormtrooper echoed back and Finn felt a rush of adrenaline course through his veins. 

“You want to put down your weapon.” 

The Stormtrooper acquiesced, laying the blaster down at his feet. “I want to put down my weapon.” 

“What the _fuck_.” Poe’s jaw dropped as he stared at Finn, “You can do that thing too?”

“Long story,” Finn said as he took a step forward and kicked the blaster out of the reach of the Stormtrooper. “You want to tell me your name.” 

“My designation is TD-2372.” 

Finn could feel Poe’s eyes on the back of his head. He knew Poe had a _real_ issue with Rey’s little trick and now he was able to do it too. It was like he’d known he was capable of doing it, until it happened. He’d assumed that maybe, someday, he might be able to tap into that part of whatever it was that was awakening within him. 

“TD-2372, I want you to listen to me.” Finn said calmly, keeping his voice steady as he spoke. “You can leave the First Order. You will find a transmission in the Moddell Sector that will lead you to safety.”

“I will leave the First Order.” TD-2372 answered with a nod of his head. 

Finn grimaced a little. He had no idea if this would even work, but it was worth it. Maybe one more Stormtrooper would get out before it was too late. “You never saw us.” He added, glancing back at Poe who still looked horrified.

“I never saw you.” TD retorted before turning and walking away from them, leaving his blaster behind in his wake.

Finn turned slowly, plastering a nervous grin to his face. “That went well.” 

“You can do _that_?” The worry line between Poe’s brows grew deeper with each passing second. 

“Apparently.” Finn shrugged. “I knew I felt _something_ … Rey wasn’t even sure it was the same abilities she has. But that gut instinct of mine is more... the Force.” 

“That’s certainly _something_.” Poe retorted, rubbing at the back of his neck slowly before he looked back towards the Falcon. “Anyways… fuel line.”

“ _Poe_.” 

“We can talk about it later.” Poe said with a wave of his hand as he turned his back and headed towards the rear of the ship. 

Finn tried to ignore the way his heart clenched painfully at the thought that this _thing_ he had with Poe could be over before it even started. But he knew how Poe was. He got heated about things, removed himself from the situation, and then was able to be rational. 

He watched after Poe before he headed back up the ramp. “Minor setback, nothing to worry about.” He offered breezily as he strolled past them, trying to act like nothing was wrong. 

Rose and Jannah trailed after him. 

“What aren’t you telling us?” Jannah questioned. 

Finn stopped abruptly and turned around. “Apparently our fuel line got cut sometime after we got to Ker Bif. I don’t have an issue with this, because I don’t want to blame your people for doing it. Not to mention, _if_ you knew, it would be really foolish to get on a ship with a fuel leak. Poe was pretty quick to blame.”

Jannah stood a little straighter, narrowing her eyes at Finn. 

“And what just happened down there? Kind of a personal issue that has _nothing_ to do with either of you. The fuel line will be fixed in half an hour and then we can be on our way. Alright? Cool.” With that, Finn turned away from them and headed for the cockpit. 

Unlike Jannah, Rose followed him into the cockpit.

“I’m not in the mood.” Finn grumbled as he sank down in the pilot’s seat and leaned his head back against the headrest. 

“What’s going on?”

“ _Everything_ apparently.” He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “The Force decided to reveal itself at a rather inopportune moment. We both know how Poe gets about Rey’s abilities.” 

“Oh.” Rose grimaced. “Did it not go well?”

Finn shrugged a shoulder. “He didn’t exactly say much, but his face did that thing. You know, where you _know_ he’s judging you.” He tilted his head to look at Rose. “And he’s being weird about the whole Stormtrooper thing.”

“Yeah, I already heard about that.” Rose said as she moved to sit in the jumpseat beside his. “To an extent, I get it. Things were a little tense for me with Jannah after we started discussing my sister. She probably knew the people responsible… but you probably did too.” 

“I know.” Finn chewed on his bottom lip, shaking his head. “I thought this was going to be a _good_ thing. I had such a good feeling about all of this and it’s not panning out how I expected.”

“Really?” Rose questioned with a skeptical look. “If this goes well with Jannah, you might very well be at the start of an uprising that could bring the First Order down from the inside. That’s _huge_. That’s good.”

“But Poe—”

“Will have to get over himself.” Rose said simply. “I can’t blame him for the way he feels. We’ve all seen terrible things that have shaped how we react. But you know he cares about you. He’s not going to walk away just because you’re an ex-Stormtrooper and because you have the Force.” 

Finn sighed heavily and sank back against the seat. He knew that Rose was right. “I’m sorry you’ve got dragged into this.” He said quietly, his gaze flickering towards her. 

“I knew what I was getting into.” Rose laughed, giving him a sympathetic smile. “Poe _will_ get over this.” She assured him as she got out of the jump seat. “Neither of you do well with change.”

Finn made a face, “Yeah. Yeah. We can’t all be Miss Adaptive.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Someone has to be.”

“You know,” Finn started, sitting up a little straighter then. “I’m not gonna let this get to me. I know this is right. Jannah, the others, the entirety of the First Order’s Stormtroopers. This is what I’m supposed to do. They have to be stopped. I can’t sit idly by and let others go through what the rest of us have endured.” The thought of new battalions of scared, disoriented, stolen children being forced to become soldiers made his heart hurt. 

“Poe will come around.” Rose assured him. “I know how love works.” 

“You’re way too good to us.” Finn said as he rose from the pilots' seat and moved to give Rose a tight hug. 

“Oh, I know.” She laughed and hugged him back. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Nine! How exciting is that? We're getting there, slowly but surely. The end is drawing ever closer. I'm currently working on Chapter Fourteen, which means probably only one more chapter left to write. There's so much to wrap up and I'm so nervous about how I have everything mapped out. 
> 
> Thank you again for reading and reviewing! It means the world to me!

“BB-8 informed me that you seemed rather down, Miss Rey.” C-3PO remarked as the droid approached Rey. She was sat cross-legged with one of Luke’s tomes sat open on her lap. 

Rey glanced up and shrugged. “Outside of everyone on base treating me like a war criminal, I’m fine, Threepio.” She turned a page, anticipating that her answer would satisfy the droid. But he lingered. “Yes?”

“I thought you might enjoy some company.” 

“ _Ah_ ,” Rey said as she closed the book and sat it aside on her little desk. “That’s kind of you, but I’m really alright.”

“The General was also concerned.”

Her brows furrowed and she dragged her fingers through her loose hair. “So the truth comes out.” She remarked.

“My programming does not allow for me to lie to trusted allies,” C-3PO assured her. “Both BB-8 and the General were quite concerned with your wellbeing. I am programmed in human-cyborg relations and would be remiss not to check on you.”

“No, no. That’s fine.” Rey sighed as she looked at the droid. “I appreciate the concern.” She propped her elbow on her thigh and rested her chin in her palm. 

“Aside from your unfortunate ostracization, what seems to be the problem?” Threepio questioned. 

“After reading through these tomes, I now believe that Master Luke was aware of Darth Sidious’ impending return.” Rey admitted as she chewed on her bottom lip until it hurt. She’d worried at it until she’d tasted the copper tang of blood. 

There wasn’t any _definitive_ proof in his writings. Darth Sidious was never mentioned by name, but there was enough contemplation on Sith artefacts that it raised her concern. Luke knew that something was coming — but instead of facing it head-on, he’d become a hermit.

“That is _quite_ alarming.” Threepio said as he raised his arms up in the air. “I find it hard to believe that Master Luke would ignore such a distressing matter.”

“Me too.” Rey said as she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I can’t be certain he knew exactly who it was. Snoke was obviously a pressing issue then. But there’s enough detail given to the Sith relics that I’m certain he knew something.” She picked up one of the books, flipping through the pages to find the neatly drawn image of a Sith Wayfinder. 

Threepio took the book from her, examining the image thoroughly. “The ink on these pages predate Master Luke’s seclusion on Ahch-Too. May I give this to Artoo to examine? While I am _quite_ capable of examining it myself, I was not present for the formative years of Master Solo.”

Rey nodded her head, “Of course. I’m open to any help I can get.” She grabbed another one of the books and handed it to the droid. “Here, there’s more in this one. Let me know what Artoo remembers.”

“Of course!” Threepio said with far too much enthusiasm as he left with the two books, rambling on about his purposes as a droid. Rey couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. As annoying as he managed to be at times, he always managed to be useful.

* * *

He had never been particularly comfortable serving as a _leader_ within the First Order. As a boy, little Ben Solo had wanted to be a pilot like his father. Han had always been in and out of his life when he was growing up — but when he returned from his travels, he’d return with tales of grand adventures and some trinket he’d picked up for his son. It had seemed rather glamorous to him. Never tied down, answering to no one, making a life for himself. Of course, his father’s absence had led to his parents’ difficulties. He wasn’t entirely unaware of the strain it had placed on them. But still, the lure of being a pilot had always lingered with him. Even when he was training with his Uncle at the Temple. 

It had been Snoke that had pushed him towards leadership. First, with the Knights of Ren, and then with his own unit within the First Order. Armitage Hux had risen through the ranks and he had been more than willing to delegate his duties to him. He understood where his resentment laid. Hux had been a pawn of his father — he’d witnessed with his own eyes the brutality that Brendol doled out to his son. Armitage Hux had been a man raised on the stories of the Empire’s greatness, whereas Ben Solo had been raised on the stories of the New Republic’s efforts for unity.

For every _positive_ choice General Hux made, Snoke had praised Kylo Ren’s abilities. Snoke had known what he was doing. Pitting man against man. Foils of one another, both willing to commit patricide to convince themselves they were _deserving_ of their positions in life. The difference was, he knew Hux would do it again a dozen times over — where he would do anything to bring Han Solo back from the dead. 

Guilt was a terrible thing. Guilt meant he was human still. That his soul remained intact, despite years and years of outward attempts to corrupt it. Guilt meant there was still a chance for him, if only he could stand to live with that guilt. Guilt was an inherent part of Ben Solo — the boy who had once spent a month feeling _awful_ for tripping Threepio and busting one of his knee circuits, after Poe Dameron had convinced him that it would be a good idea to prank the droid when they were only six and eight. 

“Supreme Leader, did you hear anything I just said?” General Hux sneered from across the table and Ben tensed as he felt the questioning glares of the military leaders that surrounded him. 

“Considering how often you’re prone to praising yourself, I tend to drown out the sound of your voice.” He countered sharply, leaving no room for Hux to make a joke out of his own negligence. He hadn’t heard a word anyone had said throughout the meeting. Sometime after it had begun, he found himself disassociating from the situation. 

General Parnadee stifled a laugh at the look on Hux’s face. Humiliation had never sat well with the General, especially when it caused his peers to laugh at him. And no one dared to laugh at the Supreme Leader. 

“ _As_ I was saying,” General Hux continued, his hands curled into fists where they rested on the table. “During your _recent_ absence, I was in communication with a General Pryde. Revered for his participation in engagements during the Galactic Civil War. Under his guidance, they have prepared a fleet of advanced vessels capable of replicating our efforts from the Starkiller Base.” 

“Excellent news,” Ben said hollowly, trying to mask his true reaction to that piece of information. If a fleet of ships existed, with the capabilities of the superweapon they’d house at the Starkiller Base — the rebels had no chance of prevailing. “I would assume, General Pryde requires the artefacts in trade for this assistance?”

“Ah, so you _were_ listening.” Hux mocked with a sneer that made Ben want to end it all right then and there. It would be far too easy to choke the life out of the General with the lift of a single finger. “The Cult of Sith is to thank for Pryde’s successes, after all.” 

“They intend to raise Emperor Palpatine from the grave. If the First Order is prepared to relinquish any and all control we’ve built up from our own empire… by all means, General Hux… hand over everything.” 

There was discourse among the officers seated at the table ensued. Dissenting opinions about the _risk_ such a sacrifice would require. Praise for such a strong union. Ultimately it fell to the Supreme Leader to make the call. If he intended to continue playing the charade, he couldn’t hesitate. 

“Inform General Pryde that we are willing to accept the terms.” Ben said sharply, rising from the table then. He glared into the eyes of each and every member at the table — remembering the faces of those that would willingly hand ultimate power over to fiends who relished the destruction of entire planetary systems with a single button. These were the people he would feel no guilt over murdering. 

With a lingering glare aimed at Hux, Ben strolled out of the conference room with all the air of a Supreme Leader — despite feeling like he was in over his head. 

Alone, in the sanctity of his bleak quarters, he let his true emotions bleed out. That was all it took to ignite the bond he shared with Rey. His own surroundings faded away and all he could see was Rey. 

She was alone. He recognized the jungle around her — he’d been there alongside her before. He always found her there, meditating like the _good_ Jedi she was trying to become. 

“ _Rey_ ,” Ben started quietly moving to sit cross-legged in front of her. 

She opened one eye and then the other as a smile spread across her lips. A smile that made his heart beat faster. “Hi.” 

“I was never very good at meditating.” He admitted, resting his hands on his knees. “My mind was never quite enough.” And his Uncle hadn’t understood that it wasn’t that he lacked discipline, he just had Snoke breathing down his neck in the silence. 

“I’m getting better at it.” Rey said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m used to being alone with my mind.” She reached out and rested her hand against his. He still marveled at how they could be connected despite being on opposite ends of the galaxy. Her touch felt as real as it had been during their journey on the moon. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”

Ben nodded his head slowly, lifting his thumb to brush the side of her hand. “The First Order has agreed to work alongside the Sith cultists.” He couldn’t meet her eyes. “I agreed to it. I had to, in order to keep up appearances.”

Rey tensed and for a fleeting second he thought she’d jerk her hand away and call him a monster — a snake. But she didn’t. “What happens now?”

“The relics will be transferred to their base in the Unknown Regions. They’ll raise Darth Sidious from the grave. The First Order will have a fleet of ships capable of destroying entire planetary systems.” He kept his voice steady, but there was little he could do about the way his hand trembled beneath her touch. 

Ben lifted his gaze cautiously and was struck by just how sincere she was looking at him. “I know it’s not an ideal situation.” He added carefully. 

“No, it’s not.” Rey shook her head slowly, brushing her fingertips over the back of his hand. “Did you know that you have a spy?” She questioned.

“I had my reasons to suspect.” It had to be Hux. “What happened?”

“Someone reported to the Resistance that I had gone off-world to rendezvous with you.” Rey admitted, chewing on her bottom lip. “Things are tense.” She looked away from him, eyes turned towards in the direction of base. 

“Seems we’re both in difficult situations.” He said with a tense frown. “Rey — I don’t know if the Resistance has a chance if the First Order takes on this fleet.” He shouldn’t have agreed, but if he hadn’t he’d likely be in a worse position. Hux was the least of his concerns. But then the cultists wouldn’t be one step closer to achieving their plans. 

Rey ran her fingers over the back of his hand and it pulled him out of his thoughts. “I have a crazy idea.” She didn’t give him a chance to question her. “Can you pass the artefacts to me through this bond?”

“I—“ He glanced towards the table that held the relics. Theoretically, they should be able to. They were able to touch one another, after all. “ _Sure_.” Ben offered as he reluctantly got up and walked towards the table, taking one of the holocrons off it. 

“This is one of the three holocrons I was able to locate,” He explained as he knelt in front of her.

Rey reaches out and took the holocron from him, easily pulling it up through their connection. He watched the way her brows furrowed as she examined it, running her fingers over the smooth angular sides. “What does it do?”

“This particular holocron has information stored on it from a Sith known as Darth Nihilus.” Ben stated as he settled himself more comfortably onto the ground. “What do you plan to do with that?”

“I plan to hold onto it.” Rey said as she sat the holocron aside, turning her focus back to him. “Do they need all of the pieces to complete their efforts?”

“ _Ideally_.” He nodded his head slowly. “They need the power from these former Sith.” Ben assumed they might be able to make do with one fewer relics. 

Rey reached out and took his hand suddenly, her expression turning somewhat sad. “Your mother isn’t doing well, Ben. I know you can feel it, the same way I can. But you have to come home before it’s too late.”

Ben flinched at her words, his gaze darting down to their hands to avoid that imploring desperation he found in her eyes. “I can’t, Rey. Trust me… I would if I could.” The idea of finally going home was something that tormented him when he finally found sleep at night. That was all he ever wanted. “I have to focus on the next step, I can’t…” He pulled his hand out of her grasp.

“You don’t _have_ a plan!”

“Solos _never_ do.” He quipped bitterly. 

“Ben—“ 

Whatever Rey had planned to say was cut off by someone shouting her name at a distance. Ben watched as Rey’s attention was pulled away from him as someone informed her that, “The Falcon’s back!” The mere mention of the Millennium Falcon made his heartache — once upon a time, he’d longed for that ship to be his own. 

“I’ll see you.” Rey said quietly, her eyes lingering on his face one last time before their connection severed. 

Despite the fact that she’d taken the holocron into her hands through their connection, Ben glared down at where it sat on the floor of his quarters. “ _Kriff_.” He swore, snatching it up and all but throwing it back onto the table with the other relics. He had damned them all, simply by trying to hold onto some semblance of power. 

Long forgotten emotions may have taken root within him, but anger was still his oldest friend. He could feel it simmering in his heart, boiling in his veins, twisting his gut into knots. Rey had managed to lure him into the light, but now he was left surrounded by the darkness of his own design. 

He _wanted_ to go home. 

Ben stared down at the relics laid out before him. The holocrons containing the lore of the Sith, the blade of Mortis, Darth Maul’s lightsaber, his grandfather’s helmet. All collection of artefacts imbued with the Force Echoes of their past owners; tools for future destruction. 

A voice, somewhere in the depths of his mind, invaded his thoughts. “You can run, you can hide, but you _will fulfill_ the destiny of _Skywalker_.” He had heard it before, a long time ago, a voice that had joined in unison with Snoke — a voice that had pushed him towards this moment. He could be stronger than those who came before him. He could. 

* * *

Rey had desperately missed her friends. While they knew nothing about her situation with Ben — it would’ve been nice to have them, while everyone else was trying to pretend like she didn’t exist. Leia had only been able to do so much about the uncomfortable tension between her and everyone who thought she was a weak spot within the Resistance. 

And now that she’d told Leia what she had learned from Ben — she was certain people would double down on their distrust of her. It didn’t help that she hadn’t been able to bring the holocron through as _proof_. 

She felt guilty being the bearer of bad news, considering the fact that Finn seemed to be riding a high.

“I have _so_ much to tell you!” Finn told Rey quietly as they embraced and Rey clung to him. “Poe and I…”

“Oh?” Rey pulled back a little and grinned at him. “Is this a thing now?”

Finn glanced sideways at Poe who was trying to diffuse a situation between Chewbacca and Rose, which Rey hadn’t picked up on. “It’s _something_.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. 

Rey laughed and squeezed his arm. “It’s about damn time.” She teased. “I’ll have to remind him that if he hurts you I _can_ hurt him.”

“Speaking of which,” Finn looked around them warily, “I discovered that I’m—“

“Finn, as heartwarming as this welcome party is, I would like to meet with your General.” 

Rey’s attention snapped towards the unfamiliar woman who had accompanied her friends. She hadn’t paid her any mind at first, far too focused on the trio.

“ _Right_!” Finn clapped his hands together, “Jannah, meet Rey. Rey this is Jannah. She’s like me, a former Stormtrooper.”

Rey looked between the two of them and plastered a welcoming smile onto her face. “It’s nice to meet you.” She offered, shaking Jannah’s hand.

“ _Likewise_.” Jannah countered, before giving Finn an expectant look. 

“Come on.” Finn nodded his head towards his new friend and they headed off in the direction of General Organa’s quarters. 

Rey caught sight of the way Poe watched Finn and Jannah walk away. She definitely felt like there was more to whatever story Finn had wanted to tell her. There was never a dull moment when Finn and Poe went off on an adventure together. 

“So, what is this I hear about _holochess_?” Rey questioned as she approached her other friends. Chewie seemed rather distressed by the situation. 

“It’s _not_ that big of a deal.” Rose said sternly. “Chewie is more than capable of fixing it.”

Rey laughed a little. “He’s very partial to that game.” She warned, looking to Chewie then. “I can help. I know my way around old wiring.”

Rose shrugged. “I _tried_.”

Poe snickered as Chewie threw his arms up in the air and headed up the ramp onto the Falcon. “You lucked out. I thought he’d eat you.”

Rose shoved him in the chest. “Shut up.”

“What have you been up to, _kid_?” Poe questioned Rey. 

Rey rankled at his remark. “Do you live to annoy?”

“Apparently,” Poe smirked. “You hold the fort down while I was gone?”

She rolled her eyes. “I actually went on my own assignment. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it.”

“Uh-oh.” Rose frowned. “What happened?”

“I’d really rather not,” Rey crossed her arms across her chest. “The fallout has kind of been a nightmare.”

“Sounds like my kind of story.” Poe grinned. “Any hints?”

Rey fixed the pilot with a look. “A more _interesting_ story is the one I just heard. So… you and Finn?”

Rose laughed, “Oh boy.”

Poe’s cheeks flushed pink. “Did he tell you _already_?” He raked a hand through his hair and shrugged. “Yeah, I mean… I guess we’re together.”

“You _guess_?” Rey cocked her head to the side. “You don’t know?”

“Look — we kissed, admitted we have feelings for each other, but it’s all so _kriffing_ difficult right now. We hit a rough patch clear out of the gate.”

Rose gave Rey a look and they both rolled their eyes. “They’re hopeless, that’s the problem.” 

“Just remember,” Rey threatened. “If you hurt him, you’ll come to regret it.”

“I don’t plan on hurting him.” Poe snapped, his hands going to his hips. “But he’s preoccupied with this Stormtrooper uprising and I’m just trying to keep us all alive.”

Rey chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Maybe she ought to tell them what she knew, before they found out from someone like Connix or Beau. “Speaking of which. I’m sure Leia will brief both of you on this, but… the First Order has new allies that have ships capable of replicating the efforts of the Starkiller Base.”

“ _Shit_.” 

Rose stared slack-jawed at Rey. “How do we know this? This seems like something they’d keep quiet.”

Rey lowered her gaze. “I have my sources.” She chewed on her bottom lip until she tasted blood and that little twinge of pain served as a momentary distraction. 

“ _Kylo Ren_?” Poe hissed out. Of course he’d guess accurately. “What the hell, Rey?”

“I don’t need this from you too.” Rey snapped, narrowing her eyes at the pilot with a look that could kill. “He’s trying to prevent it.” At least she hoped he was. She understood why he’d had to follow through the arrangement — at the end of the day, he still seemed keen on self-preservation. 

“How did this happen?”

“Which part?”

Poe glared, “The part where the Supreme Leader is giving you information now.”

Rey clenched her teeth together until her jaw ached. “It’s _Ben_.”

“That _kid_ is long gone, Rey.” Poe gritted out. “Look, I know Leia’s holding out hope or whatever, but—“

“But nothing.” Rey crossed her arms across her chest. “I was there, you weren’t. I know him and you don’t.”

“I _used_ to know him.” Poe reminded her. “When we were kids.”

Rose sighed. “You acted like you hardly knew him.”

“I mean,” He shrugged. “Our parents were friends, so yeah I mean… before he got sent off to train at the temple, I saw a lot of him. But this is the same bastard that tortured me like he’d forgotten we’d ever known each other. I’m not gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“You also have no idea what he’s gone through.” Rey said defensively. “And all of this is beside the point. He’s helping us as best he can from the inside. We know what the First Order is capable of.”

“And what’s in it for him?” Poe questioned. 

“ _Really_?” Rey gave him an incredulous look. “All that matters is that the General supports this plan. Do you have a better one?”

“Speaking of the General,” Rose interjected before Poe could answer Rey. “Maybe you should go find Finn and Jannah. If anything happens to Leia, you’ll be the acting General and you should be in on those discussions.” 

Rey only hoped that Leia would be able to talk some sense into Poe about the situation with Ben. She had unwavering faith in her son. If anyone could make Poe see reason — it would be her. 

“Good idea.” Poe said with a nod of his head. “And we’re not done with this conversation.” He added, pointing between Rey and himself. 

Rose waited until Poe was gone before she turned to face Rey, “Now, I think you could use a friend.” She reached out and squeezed Rey’s arm. 

“We really don’t have to.” Rey said quietly, though she was thankful that Rose was offering. It had been easier to share some things with her, than it was with Finn. “I’m fine.”

“I’ve been stuck with those two, _I_ need a friend.” Rose insisted with a hopeful smile. 

“Alright.” 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached chapter ten! I still can't believe how much fun this story has been to write! Thank you again to everyone who is reading!

Rose liked to think that she was good at figuring people out. For as long as she’d known Rey — which wasn’t _that_ long — she’d never seen her really at ease. She never seemed particularly comfortable in any situation, which she assumed had to do with her isolation as a child on Jakku. She’d witnessed, on more than one occasion, when Rey had gone nearly feral over someone snatching food off her plate in good humor. And she had a mean streak that could rival Poe’s.

“We _really_ don’t have to do this.” Rey remarked as she shuffled to press her back against the wall, sinking down to the floor with a huff of defeat. 

“Would you rather discuss the rotary circuiting in the power-mounted cannons I’ve been trying to make heads and tails of?” Rose questioned as she gestured to her work table, where the cannon was taken apart. 

Rey made a face, “Not particularly.”

Rose perched on the edge of her bunk and looked across her quarters at Rey. “Do you care about him?” She had seen how something had changed in Rey after Crait. Even Finn harped on how Rey’s attitude had changed.

“Who?”

“ _Rey_.”

“It’s complicated.” Rey said with a shrug of her shoulders. “He’s done _terrible_ things and I’m not going to sit here and try to make excuses for it. He still might do bad things.” She picked at her thumbnail, rather than looking at Rose. “But I’ve seen parts of him that others haven’t seen.”

“You should never feel bad about loving someone.” Rose offered quietly.

“I don’t _love_ him,” Rey said far too quickly, a blush rising across her cheekbones. “I don’t even know what love feels like.”

“You love your friends, you know what that feels like.” 

“That feels different.” Rey tilted her head back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. “Ben and I are connected in a way that no one else will ever understand. I worry that it affects how I feel about him.”

“How so?”

Rey pursed her lips as she stared at Rose, a worried look in her eyes. “Don’t you get tired of listening to everyone else’s sob stories?”

Rose laughed. “ _Sometimes_.” She scooted back on her bunk, leaning against the wall. “But that’s part of being a friend. You listen and try to help.”

“I’m not good at that.”

“You’re better than you think you are.” She tilted her head to the side, “I think you know more about Finn than either Poe or me.”

“True.” Rey drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Talking about Ben is difficult though. He’s to blame for so many terrible things that have happened to people here. I can’t just tell Finn that I have _feelings_ for someone who he frequently talks about killing. Look how Poe reacted to me saying that Ben’s trying to _help_ us.”

“Poe is a terrible person to base reactions off of.” Rose reminded Rey. “Besides, he’s got his head up his ass about the Stormtroopers.”

Rey laughed at that. “It’s not just him, though. After the First Order spy reported that I had met with him — the entire base treated me like an enemy. Even Snap looked at me like bantha shit.”

Rose frowned. “That’s because they don’t understand. They have their own opinions based on their experiences and you have yours because you’ve been there.” 

“They don’t understand what it’s like to have the Force. It’s like being torn apart sometimes. The good and the bad are constantly trying to upset the balance.”

“You should talk to Finn.”

Rey perked up then. “Is he—“

“It’s not my story to tell, but I think he might just understand.” Rose said with a grin. “Does Kylo— Does _Ben_ feel the same way?”

“He does.” Rey said with a little smile. “We actually, uh...” She lowered her gaze to the floor and laughed nervously. “We shared a _very_ brief kiss when we last met.”

“Wow.” Rose’s brows rose upwards. 

Rey held up her hands, “ _Don’t_ make it a thing. We had just been attacked by Ashrals, I was freezing cold, and slightly terrified of what laid before me. It just happened” 

Rose couldn’t help but wiggle her brows. It was nice to put aside the war for a few minutes and enjoy stupid conversations about _kissing_. It reminded her of the late-night conversations she used to have with her sister. Her fingers went instinctively to the necklace around her neck. “If more people used _love_ instead of hate as their motivation, things would be better in this galaxy.”

“It’s _not_ love.” She insisted a little too quickly. “I barely even know him. It’s just… this bond we share has us connected.” Rey pressed her lips together, her brows furrowed thoughtfully. 

“How does the bond work?”

“At first it was like I could sense him? I could see visions of him.” Rey rubbed at the worry line between her brows. “Then it progressed to the point where we could touch through the bond. Wherever we are…” She curled her arms around herself. “I must sound like I’m crazy.”

“No.” Though it was a rather _interesting_ concept to Rose. “I don’t understand the Force. I know it’s not the same, but Paige and I used to joke that we could read each other’s minds — feel each other no matter where we were. Is it like that?”

“I guess.” She pushed her fingers through her hair and sighed. “But it is how I know that there’s been a change in him. I know he’s done _terrible_ things, but doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?”

“They do.” Rose agreed. “And if he’s trying to make things right by helping _now_ — I think others will come to understand.”

Rey offered Rose a faint smile, before she pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes and sighed. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I really don’t want to run the risk of running into Poe tonight. I’m sure Connix has already gotten ahold of him.”

“Of course,” She remarked as she got off her bunk and moved to the trunk at the foot of her bed. She pulled out extra blankets and passed them towards Rey. “You’re always welcome here.”

“I appreciate it.” 

* * *

“I can still change my mind, Poe. Don’t try my patience.” Leia said sharply and Poe swore he felt some small part of his pride shrivel up and die just then. He _hated_ disappointing Leia — though it seemed to occur more often as of lately. 

Poe pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts. “It’s not a bad plan, General… I’m just saying, we’re letting a lot things ride on the _hope_ that your son has turned a new leaf.”

“Do you not trust Rey?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust Rey, I just don’t trust _him_.”

“Rey trusts him.” 

“The First Order has _ships_ with starkillers on them. This goes beyond having trust in the _bad_ guy.” Poe gritted out, his hands on his hips. “We need a better plan, than to rely on _him_.”

Leia shook her head, “I should’ve known you’d grow up to be more stubborn than even Han was.” She wagged a finger at him before she retreated back to her seat. “The plan isn’t changing, Poe. Regardless of how many ways you rephrase it.”

“I think your need to see your son again is outweighing your logic.”

“Ah, because a woman cannot be a mother and a leader.” Leia arched a warning brow at him. 

“That’s not—“ Poe sighed and raked a hand over his face. “I’m just saying, we all know your blindspot is _Ben_. And apparently Rey has the same blindspot.” He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, searching for the right words to say. “You saw how he commanded his troops on Crait. You know what he’s capable of.”

“There’s a much larger force at play,” Leia reminded him. “Ben and Rey have the ability to _stop_ the return of Darth Sidious.”

Poe threw his arms to the side in frustration, “So we just sit here and wait for death then? Because Rey is here and Kylo Ren is on the _Finalizer_ somewhere amassing a fleet that could take this planet out of existence with a snap of his fingers.” He pointed at Leia then, eyes narrowed. “You know this is a bullshit plan.”

“Commander Dameron,” Leia started with an edge to her voice and Poe tensed. “You will become General sooner rather than later and I _hope_ by then, you realize you won’t always be the one with the plan. Sometimes, being General means relying on those around you to put their own abilities to use. Rey and _Ben_ are the only two who can forestall cataclysmic events. No amount of puffing out your chest will give you those same abilities. You have to believe in your people, even when it’s hard to see how. Hope is—“

Poe lowered his gaze, shame warming his cheeks. “—is like the sun. I remember what you said.” He shook his head slowly, “I’m a man of action.”

“You’re hotheaded, that’s what you are.” Leia remarked with a short chuckle. “You’ll make a good General, but you have to learn patience.” 

“I know.” 

“I understand you’ve started _acting_ as General already.” Leia said with barely concealed amusement. 

Poe’s brows shot upwards, “Excuse me?”

“ _Captain Finn_.”

“Oh. _That_.” He rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged, moving to sit down on the canvas stool across from her. “He deserves rank. Besides, making him Captain helped smooth things over with Jannah.”

“Those are the kind of quick thinking decisions that make a _good_ General.” Leia advised with a smirk. “I’ve given Finn full control of that project. A small fleet will be shipping out to Kef Bir to provide assistance. We can’t spare many, but if it helps us gain allies, it’s worth it.”

“I can make another run to Bespin,” Poe suggested. “I know Lando is disenfranchised by all of this, but he’s got the allies that can be the boots on the ground on the planets that have Stormtrooper patrols. Jannah’s unit can be the only one that’s ready to break away.”

Leia looked rather proud of him then, nodding her head in agreement. “ _That_ sounds like a General to me.”

“Yeah,” A faint smirk tugged at his lips and he shrugged. “But we aren’t going to agree on the other issue.” Poe said firmly. “We’re risking the lives of _our_ people.” He met Leia’s gaze, his brows furrowed together. “He made a choice to become what he’s become.”

“Aren’t the choices we make now, more important than the choices we’ve made in the past?”

“I’d ask the residents of the Hosnian Prime System, but they’re not available.” He countered. 

Leia sighed heavily and shook her head. “One day, you’ll understand.” 

“I hope so.” Poe said and he genuinely did hope that one day he’d understand what that kind of unwavering _hope_ was like. But if things didn’t turn out like Leia planned — there would be no ‘one day’ to worry about.

* * *

“Rose said you were sulking,” Finn remarked as he sat down across from Rey and scooted a tray of food in her direction. “You should eat something and tell me why you’re sulking.”

“I’m not sulking.” Rey said grumpily, folding her arms against the table and resting her chin on them as she glared at the food. “I’m not hungry.”

“What’s wrong?”

Rey gestured you her left, where several pilots were clearly whispering about her. It was obvious from the way they quickly averted their gazes that she’d been the topic of their conversation. 

“Are you going to tell me what went on while I was gone?”

“I’m surprised Poe didn’t tell you,” Rey said as she sat up and tore a bite off the roll he’d gotten her. 

“He’s been in a mood.” Finn rolled his eyes. “And Rose wouldn’t budge. So _spill_.”

“Just don’t overreact.” Rey said through a mouthful of roll as she shoved more into her mouth. “You know how Leia’s started getting things in order for a potential battle?”

Finn nodded, “Yeah. I’ve already had three meetings with Jannah since we got here. But everything’s been vague.”

Rey rubbed at her forehead with a sigh. “I should’ve told you months ago. Before Crait _Ben—_ “

“Kylo Ren?” Finn questioned with an arched brow. 

“Ben and I realized that we shared a bond.” Rey kept her voice low enough that those around them couldn’t hear. Finn tried, in vain, to school his expression — but what she was saying was _insane_. “It’s something born from the Force. A dyad. From what Threepio and Artoo were able to decipher — Luke _knew_ about the dyad. Not who or when, but at a point in time he knew it would be forged.”

“And what does this mean?”

“He and I are connected. Sometimes I can feel him.” Rey explained, reaching across the table and stealing his roll off his tray. “It’s like a stray emotion that I know isn’t mine. But other times it’s more _tangible_. We exist in the same space, regardless of where we are in the galaxy.”

“So he’s known where we were this whole time?” Finn shook his head slowly. “You should’ve told us. All this time—“

Rey glanced downwards and nodded. “Leia knew. But that’s besides the point. He doesn’t _want_ to attack us.” She looked away then, jaw set hard and her eyes looking anywhere but at him. 

“I see…” Though he really didn’t see what she was getting at. It didn’t help that the way she was speaking about him seemed so — soft. Had she gone _soft_ for him?

“Please don’t judge me, Finn.” Rey said with an edge to her voice. “I _know_ he’s done terrible things, but it’s not as black and white as it seems. _Promise_.” 

Finn shrugged as he took a bite of his fruit. “It’s hard for me to believe that, when I’ve seen him first hand when I was a Stormtrooper. Before he had ultimate power.” He took another bite before adding, “Jannah and I are about to leave base to go track down more defectors and what — you’re cozying up to the _Supreme Leader_? Sounds like a bad combination.”

Rey’s cheeks flushed pink and she turned her attention to her plate of food, pushing her scrambled egg around with her fork. “I don’t think he’ll be Supreme Leader much longer.” 

“ _What_?” Finn’s brows shot upwards. “Why?”

“General Hux is primed to usurp power.” Rey answered. 

Finn sneered, “ _Hux_.” He scoffed and made a disgusted face. “I’m not surprised that the weasel is trying to claim power. But why would Kylo Ren let go of the power? He killed Snoke for it. Didn’t he?”

“I may have misrepresented how that played out.” 

“ _Rey_.”

“Snoke was going to kill me and Ben… killed him to prevent that from happening. He and I fought side-by-side to protect each other.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “It’s been complicated for a while.” 

Finn tried to understand it from her perspective. He wanted to, but it hurt that she hadn’t trusted him with the truth. She’d been vague about the whole situation and — in retrospect — it made sense why she’d been so morose after it all. “What else have you kept from me?”

“Well,” Rey grimaced. “On top of all of this, there are Sith cultists trying to raise the ultimate evil.”

“Does it never end?” Finn pressed his fingers into his temples and sighed. “What. The. Hell?” Now he understood what Poe had been implying when he’d remarked that, “ _Shit’s about to get real._ ”

“That’s what he and I are trying to _stop_. But we have to do it together.” Rey explained, giving a wary look to either side, before she leaned across the table and added. “It’s dangerous and I don’t know if I’ll come back. If either of us will come back. We might very well be walking to a trap.”

“If I’ve learned anything from Rose,” Finn started with a determined expression. “None of us know if we’re going to come back from _any_ mission we go on.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Does it feel right? This whatever it is with _him_?”

“It does.” Rey said as she turned her hand over beneath his and squeezed. “I love all of you here, but sometimes I feel alone in the midst of it all. But not with him. It’s like something within me has finally found _understanding_.”

“The Force.” Finn suggested with an understanding smile. 

A genuine smile spread over her features, “Are you?” She could read between the lines. Intuition was, after all, one of the easiest aspects of the Force. 

Finn nodded, “Yeah. It just kind of happened. I mean, I _knew_ at some level. But we stopped at an outpost on the way back to base and ran into trouble. I did that thing you always do — the mindtrick. It just happened.”

“That would explain why Poe is acting like—“

“Like Poe?” Finn rolled his eyes. “He really doesn’t care for the Force.”

“But he does care about you.” Rey said with a tilt of her head. “He’ll get over it.”

Finn rubbed at the back of his neck. He tried to not let Poe’s issues with the Force get to him. But he couldn’t deny that it was disappointing. He was still the same person he was last week — just a little more _aware_. “Nice attempt to change the subject.” He teased Rey lightly as he returned his attention to his breakfast. 

“We can’t _just_ talk about me.” Rey said as she tore off another bite of bread and ate it with a smug grin. 

“Yeah, but you’re talking about dyads and cultists, I’ve just got a hotheaded—“ Finn paused as he watched Rey’s gaze raise to a point above his shoulder and the fit of laughter she barely concealed told him everything he needed to know. “He’s standing behind me, isn’t he?”

“Depends. How many _hotheaded_ people do you know?” Poe questioned as he placed his hand on Finn’s shoulder and squeezed as he sat down — _closely_ — beside him. 

“Theoretically, half the base could be considered _hotheaded_.” Finn tried, brows raised as he turned to look at Poe. His lips rugged upwards at the corners as he met the pilot’s gaze. 

“I’m wounded,” Poe quipped, clutching his chest. “I thought I was the token hothead around here.”

Rey snorted a laugh. “You’re the token pain in the ass.”

“Look who’s talking.” Poe hit back with a smirk.

“Touché.” 

“So, you were talking about me?”

Finn chewed on his bottom lip and gave a short nod of his head. “We were talking about the… _incident_ on Ryloth.”

Poe made a face, “ _Ah_.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Well, there are bigger issues to focus on.”

“Are we good?” Finn questioned hesitantly. 

“Yeah. We’re good.” Poe said, resting his hand on Finn’s shoulder.

“Thank the stars,” Finn let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He casually looped his arm around Poe’s waist and squeezed. 

“Have you heard anything from our… _friend_?” Poe questioned Rey, curling his fingers around the cup he held, bringing it to his lips — and Finn resisted the urge to let his gaze linger there. 

Rey pushed her hair behind her ears and shook her head. “Not since yesterday.” She glanced downwards to her half-eaten breakfast. “Why do you suddenly seem _okay_ with this?”

“A long discussion with Leia.” Poe said, leaning his elbows against the table. “General’s have to rely on the strengths of others.” He gestured to Rey, “You’ve got this… _connection_ to the opposition and,” He nodded towards Finn. “He’s got the skills to get us defectors to increase our numbers. I can’t… control everything.”

“Where’s Rose. She’s never going to believe me when I tell her about this.” Finn said, nudging Poe in the ribs playfully. 

“Clam it.” Poe ribbed him in return. 

Finn couldn’t help but grin at Poe. 

* * *

Hux pursed his lips together tightly as he felt bile rise in the back of his throat. His fingers curled into fists at his hips, but he tried to conceal his fury, but he was certain it was written on his features as he stared at the hologram of General Pryde. 

“I apologize for the inconvenience that this—“

“And to think, I was told you were a _promising_ General.” Pryde countered snidely. 

“It was the Supreme Leader… he absconded with the artefacts. We… I—“ He floundered, trying to maintain his composure. “He managed to override the alert system and left the _Finalizer_ sometime last night.” And the prick had left his helmet sitting in the middle of his quarters to mock him. He knew how much Hux despised it. “The tracking sensors on his TIE are malfunctioning, but we have fleets out scouring the hyperspace for him. He will _not_ get away with this. And when I get my hands on him—”

General Pryde _tsked_ disapprovingly. “Finding the artefacts should be your utmost priority, General Hux.” 

“It _is_ , General.” Hux lowered his gaze, shame burning his cheeks. “We will not rest until we deliver the relics to you.”

“Good.”

The transmission ended abruptly and Hux turned to face the room of commanders and officers, sneering at each and every one of them. “The Supreme Leader is _gone_ .” He said sharply. “Whatever allegiance you felt towards him is severed. He is our enemy now. We will stop at _nothing_ to bring home the relics and end the reign of Kylo Ren.”

“Gener—“

“No.” Hux snapped, glaring at the man who had started to speak. “Supreme Leader. The role I should’ve held since Snoke’s untimely end.” His eyes swept around the room. “I have reason to believe that Kylo Ren orchestrated the death of the late Supreme Leader. _Perhaps_ in order to aid the rebels.” He had, after all, proven himself to be soft for the scavenger girl.”

No one dared to add to his statement. Nervous gazes were exchanged and Hux felt _powerful_ for once in his life. 

_Supreme Leader Hux_. It had a nice ring to it. 

“Make it known, we will not _spare_ the traitor. Kill him on sight.” He threatened. He could already envision a world where that man would no longer pose a threat to his attempts at power. 

Kylo Ren would be no more if he had anything to do with it. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next chapter are a wild ride from start to finish. Enjoy!

Rey came awake violently, her heart thundering in her chest as she stared up into the inky blackness above her. Something had shifted in the galaxy — in the Force. It felt as though something had awoken. She tried to focus her mind, to focus in on that point of light in the darkest reaches of space. Panic. She could feel the echoes of frantic fear, as real as her own, crawling up from her chest and strangling her. 

_Ben_. 

She threw back the covers, snatching her tunic off the ground, before fumbling to pull on her boots — left and then right. 

Desperately, she tried to initiate their bond. But it felt like striking a wall made of solid ice. She could see him through the murky glasslike ice, but he had cut himself off from her. 

Rey had barely opened the door to her quarters when Finn came barreling down the corridor. “Rey—“ He started, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “Can you feel that?”

“I can feel Ben.” Rey said quietly, her brows knit together as she stared at Finn. “What can you feel?”

“I don’t know how to explain it.” Finn admitted as he stood up straight. “Like something, _somewhere_ , opened wide. I was sound asleep and then—“

Rey nodded her head slowly, “It was like something burst open.” She was nearly certain that what she felt from Ben wasn’t directly related to whatever _call_ she and Finn had felt. It was different — the panic had been Ben’s but the awakening had been _theirs_. 

“Is it… _Palpatine_?” Finn questioned, dropping his voice to a whisper as he looked up and down the corridor warily. 

“I don’t know.” Rey said quietly. She tried to reach out to Ben once more, to brush the edges of her consciousness against his own — but it felt just out of reach. “The First Order was going to deliver the relics to the cultist, but… I didn’t think Ben would allow it to happen.” 

“But it could’ve?”

Rey grimaced at the thought. She knew that he’d been backed into a corner, but she had _hoped_ — perhaps foolishly — that he would find a way to stall on turning the artefacts over. If he had followed through with assisting in raising Darth Sidious… no one would understand. There would be no potential for a second chance. 

“I _really_ don’t know.” She confessed as she met Finn’s questioning gaze. “I keep trying to reach out to him, but I can’t…”

Finn reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Maybe there’s a reason. Maybe it’s not…”

“Or maybe I was _wrong_.” Rey batted his hand away from her shoulder. “We should go find Leia.” 

She started down the corridor before Finn had an opportunity to say anything else. There was a part of her that would’ve desperately loved for Finn to argue with her — to convince her that her trust in Ben hadn’t been misplaced. But she knew better. Finn would likely agree with her. 

“Don’t you think she’s probably asleep?” Finn questioned as he caught up to her. 

Rey gave him a sideways look. “If we felt that, I’m sure she did too.” Her gaze flickered towards the communications station — relieved to find that Connix wasn’t there to judge and question what she and Finn were up to in the middle of the night. Not that Rey didn’t miss the questioning glares from the two officers that were managing the station. 

The former Stormtrooper and the potential First Order mole, sneaking into the General’s quarters in the middle of the night. Surely _that_ wouldn’t raise suspicions. 

Leia was waiting for them in the threshold of her quarters, just as Rey had thought she would be. 

* * *

“He knew for _months_ that rebel forces were entering into the Bespin System.” Hux gritted out as he reviewed the information on the datapad. That piece of shit. 

While he still had technicians working through the encrypted files — what they had already unearthed was damning to the legitimacy of Kylo Ren’s time as Supreme Leader. Months of evidence that _proved_ that he had known about the movements of the rebels — all the while he’d claimed ignorance. Nothing to report. Unclear information. 

Hux was seething with satisfaction. He’d been right to think that Kylo Ren was a traitor in their midst. There was no chance that the scavenger had overpowered both Ren and Snoke… which meant he _had_ killed their master in cold blood.

For as much as he claimed to be the heir of Darth Vader, it was clear that Kylo Ren was more the son of _General Organa_. A bleeding heart for the rebel’s useless mission to bring _peace_ to the galaxy. Peace. As if their methods brought anyone peace. Peace could only be found once a sole power had claimed control of the entire galaxy. One unified galaxy, reliant on one powerful ruler. 

He fashioned himself to be that man. To prove his father wrong, even from the grave. If only that wretched man could see Armitage now — _Supreme Leader Hux_. 

“I want you all to continue working through these files. _Anything_ that might lead us to Kylo Ren’s current location comes to me directly, without hesitation.” Hux told the techs, glaring at each and every one of them. Threatening was the key to power. To _prove_ himself. 

Hux left the room with a sharp click of his heels, striding down the corridor to the command room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to him. A shiver ran down his spine at the sense of might that came with their attention. 

“I want a fleet sent to Bespin as soo—“ No, there was no reason to go easy. “I want it _now_. I want Bespin to remember whose side they belong on. I want ‘troopers in the streets, inspecting cargo. I want reports on every vessel coming and going from the Bespin System.” Several people scurried into action and Hux couldn’t mask the smirk that twisted his lips. No one would question him or undermined him now. 

There was no Kylo Ren to cut off his airflow with a clench of his fist. No menacing glares from behind an expressionless mask. No one to diminish his capabilities.

“Sir,” One of the young cadets started, standing at stiff attention before Hux. “We have been unable to track _his_ TIE Fighter. He managed to sever all ties to the _Finalizer_ and the First Order.”

“That’s not good enough.” Hux spat out. “I want him found.”

“We are trying everything we can, but he knows what he’s doing.”

Hux narrowed his eyes and swiftly backhanded the young man, hard enough to split his lip. “Trying isn’t _good_ enough. Trying was the pathetic attempts at leadership you witnessed under that maniac’s rule.” His voice raised to a near-yell. “You _will_ find Kylo Ren and return the relics to me. Is that understood?”

“Y-Yes. Yes, sir.” The cadet mumbled before he retreated.

Despite claiming the title of Supreme Leader — Hux was well aware of the fact that General Pryde could strip it all away. The Sith Cultists were not to be underestimated. For decades they had occupied the furthest reaches of the Unknown Regions — rebuilding the very empire that the First Order had been trying to uphold. 

It had been the one _good_ thing that had come out of Kylo Ren. Following Snoke’s death, the cultists had been willing to reveal themselves given his leaning towards the Dark Side. The blood of Vader in his veins. 

Hux was just a man. There was no Force, no legendary blood. He was just a man trying to uphold the tenets of a belief that his father had instilled in him. But he had spent his entire life striving for greatness — for power. Then less than ten years ago, Kylo Ren rose to power simply because of the blood in his veins. He had _never_ been committed to rebuilding an empire. 

Power was just a flight of fancy that was handed to him on a silver platter because of his heritage. At least he’d never fashioned himself as the Prince of Alderaan, like his _beloved_ mother.

 _Ah_!

“You.” Hux pointed at one of the officers seated at a control panel. “I want you to pull a report on the provinces that Alderaan held claim over. Anything _suspicious_ , I want it reported to me.”

“Yes, sir.” The young woman answered with a short nod.

Hux stared out the window at the great expanse of stars surrounding the vessel. There had to be something they were missing. Given everything Ren has concealed — it wouldn’t surprise him if he’d known where the rebels were the entire time. 

He would find them and finish what Snoke had started. End the rebellion, take control of the galaxy, and claim his rightful destiny. 

* * *

Leia ushered Rey and Finn into her quarters, waiting until they were all seated before she began to speak. “Now, I may not have as much experience with the Force as my brother did, but I am _certain_ that what we felt was not Darth Sidious.” She advised, looking to Rey then. “Have you heard from my wayward son?” 

Rey shook her head slowly, dropping her gaze to the floor as she walked further into the General’s quarters. “I haven’t been able to reach out to him.” It wasn’t as though they had ever had much _control_ over how their bond worked. There had been times, following Crait, that she hadn’t wanted to see him — but their bond had had other plans for them. But now, when she desperately wanted to reach out to him… _silence_. 

“If it wasn’t this Sidious person, then what _was_ it?” Finn questioned as he moved to perch on the edge of the small table in the center of the room, his arms crossed across his chest. 

Rey glanced up in time to catch the lingering look Leia had cast her direction, before she turned her attention to Finn. “Your guess is as good as my own, however… I can guarantee it wasn’t _him_.” 

“It was like something opened.” Finn said, gesturing to his chest. “Is this something that happens to other Force users often? What have I gotten myself into?”

Her brows furrowed together. “I felt something like it when I was on Ahch-To.” She admitted, pacing to calm an anxiety that she wasn’t solely convinced was her own. “But that was more like a shifting…” Ahch-To had been a place of revelation for her. On the bones of the first Jedi Order she had found her own path. “This felt like a door being forced open.” 

Rey stopped mid-pace, fingers curled tightly into fists at her sides. She turned her head slowly, meeting Leia’s eyes. “It’s me.” 

“ _What_?” Finn questioned, looking in between the two women. 

“It was the dyad. What we felt. What everyone who is Force sensitive _felt_.” She turned towards Finn then, a breathless sort of laugh escaping her. “I wasn’t wrong. He’s not taking the relics to them.” Only, she had no idea where he was. Every time she tried to reach out to him she was met by a barrier that she knew was of his own creation. But she could still feel him, all the same. 

Rey looked back towards Leia, smiling softly. “What we felt — the Force shifted. He chose. Whatever this dyad is, tethering us together… That’s what we felt.”

“How can you know for certain?” Finn remarked, pushing off the table as he approached Rey. “Why would any of us be able to feel your dyad thing?” 

“Because we’re all connected.” Rey said with an edge to her voice. “But the connection Ben and I have is something different. Something _powerful_. Something that the Force created to hopefully save all of us.” 

“So you think he turned his back on the Dark Side?” Leia questioned cautiously. 

“What do _you_ feel?” Rey countered. 

Leia hesitated, “I agree that there’s been a _change_ in the Force tonight. I can’t, however, attest to the lore behind the dyad.” She tucked her hands behind her back and stood a little straighter. 

Finn arched a curious brow, “Can something like the dyad really be felt by all of us?” 

“It can.” Leia said with a nod. “Rey’s right. All of us are connected, as all living things are connected to the Force. We can feel the shockwaves through the Force. Life, death, rebirth.” Her voice wavered slightly and her shoulders slumped. 

Finn was quick to move across the quarters to catch Leia by the arm. “Are you alright?”

“Just tired.” Leia reassured him, though Rey wasn’t convinced by that. She knew her health was failing worse with each passing day. “As I was saying,” She started as he helped her into her seat. “ _If_ he has chosen to turn his back on the Dark Side — perhaps we _did_ feel the reverberations from him.”

Rey’s lips parted to add to Leia’s theory, but she was caught off guard by a strange sensation. It felt as though there was a string connected to her at her belly button, tugging her towards _something_. 

“ _Rey_?” 

She turned to meet Leia’s gaze, blinking twice before she found her voice. “Sorry. I got distracted.” 

“Was it Ben?” 

“I don’t know.” She admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. The sensation was still there, like an imaginary string drawn taut between her and the other end. Rey’s brows furrowed and she looked away from Leia and Finn, staring at the door. Whatever she was tethered to lay beyond the door, beyond the base, somewhere at the edge of the jungle she knew so well. 

Rey could feel their eyes on her as she stared at the door, trying to decipher what it was that was pulling at her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she could feel each and every hair follicle on her arms rising with goosebumps. Whatever it was at the end of the line felt cold — shrouded in a murky sort of darkness. 

Without warning, she started for the door. She was vaguely aware of Finn shouting her name, but her feet kept her moving swiftly forward. She followed the pull, out beyond the very edges of the base, her boots thoroughly soaked by the stream she crossed through. 

She _knew_ what it was. What was calling to her, pulling her in. She knew _who_ it was. But she couldn’t bring herself to admit it — too skeptical of her own intuition. But she knew. 

Rey ducked her head to avoid getting hit in the head by a low hanging branch, shoving it aside as she made her way out of the treeline. She hadn’t even had the wherewithal to grab her lightsaber before she’d ventured out. 

She stopped abruptly at the edge of the treeline, her eyes scanning the moonlit clearing. She could see the pale flashing lights emanating from the edges of a ship’s wings. It was a TIE Silencer. She recognized it from visions she’d had. 

“ _Rey_!” Finn called out, still caught up somewhere in the thick of the jungle. Rey didn’t wait for him to catch up to her, heading out across the clearing towards the vessel. 

A loud pneumatic hiss cut through the silence of the clearing as the exit ramp was lowered. Her heart was thundering in her chest as she strode forward. She recognized the figure the moment he stepped through the shine of interior lighting. 

“ _Ben_!” She shouted as she picked up the pace of her movements, sprinting towards him. It was him — in the flesh and blood standing before her. “What are you doing here?” 

Ben gave a short laugh, a smirk playing over his lips as he looked down at her. “You forgot this.” He remarked, holding out the holocron he’d tried to pass to her through their bond. 

“So you came all this way to make sure I had it?” Rey arched a brow at him as she reached out and took the holocron from him. “You made me think the worst.”

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I couldn’t let you dissuade me from coming.” Ben’s gaze lifted and he squinted through the darkness behind her — Finn coming into view as he finally emerged from the forest and crossed through the clearing. “Back up?”

“We were together with your mother when I felt… _you_.” She hesitantly reached out with her free hand and placed her palm against his chest. She fanned her fingers out against the soft woven fabric of his shirt, lifting her gaze to his face. “Did you make your choice?” 

Ben nodded his head slowly, giving another wary look in Finn’s direction, before he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I did, Rey. But it was a choice made out of fear.” His bottom lip trembled and he pressed his lips together to hide it for a moment. 

“What do you mean?” Rey questioned, keeping her own voice low. 

“There was a voice,” He swallowed thickly as he lifted his hand to rub at his temple. “It wasn’t the first time I had heard it… It was no different than Snoke, but I knew that it was _Palpatine_.” He glanced towards Finn who had kept his distance. “But I _knew_ Rey.” 

“It doesn’t matter _why,_ ” Rey said firmly, her palm still pressed to his chest. Perhaps it did matter why he’d come to join the Resistance — or why he’d sought refuge there. But in the moment, it didn’t matter to her. He was there and the rest could be sorted out later. 

Ben gently curled his fingers around her hand to remove it from his chest, the touch lingered for a few seconds but he was quick to release it. “I’m afraid I’ve become a pawn in a larger scheme, Rey. I ran and perhaps I should’ve stayed.”

“You said it yourself, your time with the First Order was growing short. Where else would you have gone?” Rey questioned, her brows furrowed together. “What did the voice say?”

“That I would fulfill the destiny of my line.” 

Rey cocked her head to the side, “And what destiny is that?”

Ben clenched his teeth together and looked towards Finn again, “Can I see my mother?” 

“Ben—”

“I would like to see my mother.” Ben said again with a slight edge to his voice that made Rey take a step backwards. There was something he wasn’t telling her, that was clear enough to see. Even face-to-face she could see the wall he’d erected around himself. Something to keep her away from him. 

Rey looked back towards Finn, “Can you make sure the path is clear to return to Leia’s quarters?” The last thing they needed was to get caught escorting _Kylo Ren_ into the General’s quarters. 

“I think I should stay.” Finn insisted and Rey narrowed her eyes. “You can give me as many looks as you want Rey, but I don’t _trust_ him.” 

“He shouldn’t.” Ben pointed out, just as Rey started to protest. 

Rey crossed her arms across her chest and fixed Ben with a glare. “Why are you doing this?” 

Ben lowered his gaze, unwilling to meet her eyes. “I would like to see my mother.” He said as he started past Rey. 

“ _Stop_.” Rey snapped, catching ahold of his arm before he could fully slip past her. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

“The only destiny my family has ever been a part of has lead to death. I know what’s coming and you can see it too Rey.” Ben loomed over her, dark eyes staring down into her own. 

“It doesn’t have to go that way.” Rey said with an edge of desperation as she curled her fingers around his forearm tighter. “We can do this together. We’re a dyad Ben. Whatever that means, I _know_ it means that we’re stronger together.”

“I know what I have to do Rey.” He gave her a soft smile before he pried her fingers off his arm. “FN— _Finn_ ,” Ben corrected himself. “Can you _escort_ me to my mother?” 

Rey stayed rooted in her spot, fighting back the anger that had come alive in her chest. Of course she had no idea what he was going through — the voices seemed to be a source of fear within him, something she’d sensed the first time she’d stumbled into his mind. Snoke had been in there like dark tendrils throughout his mind and if he feared a new voice — he had every right to feel fear. But it didn’t mean closing her off. 

“Ben, wait—” Rey started, turning on her heels. The words had barely tumbled from her lips, before a loud shot sounded out through the quiet clearing. A flash of light from a blaster lit up their dark surroundings and Rey’s heart dropped as she watched Ben crumble to the ground. 

“Who’s there?” Finn shouted, followed by more shouting that fell on deaf ears. The world felt like it had tilted off its axis and everything else faded away into white noise in the distance. 

Rey rushed across the clearing, dropping to her knees beside Ben. “No, no, _no_ .” She reached out hesitantly to touch the smoldering wound on his abdomen. “ _Ben_.” She whispered as her eyes flickered to his face. 

His breathing was labored, pain etching lines into his face as he stared up at her. “Rey.” Ben managed, gasping a little as she shifted his head to rest against her thigh. “I’m sorry.” 

“ _Shh_.” Rey choked out as hot tears spilled from her eyes. “You have to stay with me.” She said as she stroked her fingers over his cheek in an attempt to comfort him. “ _Please_.” 

“Rey,” Finn squeezed her shoulder, breaking her focus away from Ben. “It was Connix. I tried to catch her, but the forest… it’s too dense.” He squatted beside her. “We should try to get him back to base.” 

Ben let out a strained laugh, “Never thought _you_ would try to save me.” 

Finn rolled his eyes. “Don’t push your luck.” He retorted, giving Rey’s shoulder another squeeze. “I can carry him.” 

“Please be gentle with him.” She said quietly to Finn as she looked down at Ben, cradling his cheek in her palm. “We can patch you up. It’s not that bad.” Rey said, trying to convince herself as much as him. It _was_ bad. It hadn’t been close enough range to go straight through him, but the blast had done significant damage. She sat back on her heels, her eyes darting to Finn, “Take him to Leia’s quarters before—”

She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘ _before it was too late’_. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *inhales deeply* There is a character death in this chapter. This was probably one of the hardest chapters for me to write.

With every labored breath he took, he felt fresh searing pain in his gut. The blaster had done a number on him. He’d been injured before — quite seriously too. But this… this wasn’t the sort of injury a medical droid and bacta could easily remedy. There was a sick sense of irony in the fact that he had grown so tired of seeing blood everywhere that he went and yet his own blood seeping from him would be the last thing he saw. 

_No_. The last thing he saw would be Rey. Tears tracking down her cheeks and eyes red from crying and exhaustion. In his own exhaustion he couldn’t keep up the walls that he’d carefully built to keep her out of his mind — even now he could feel her carefully probing at the edges of his mind, checking on how much life he still had to cling to. 

Not much. 

He could feel it flowing from him like the blood that was dampening his shirt. 

“Could you be a little more careful with him?” Rey snapped at Finn. 

Finn scoffed, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but he’s actually quite large.” 

“I had noticed,” Rey bit back. “But you’re going to hurt him if you keep knocking him into trees.” 

Ben grimaced as a short laugh escaped him, “I’m fine.” 

“ _He’s fine_.” Finn echoed. 

“You’re not _fine_.” She said firmly, before fixing Finn with a glare. “He’s _not_ fine.” 

Rey had such a fierceness about her, he could sense the fury that was growing beneath her ribs — he knew that sensation all too well. He’d never had someone worry about him like that before. It was endearing, really. Even as a little boy, his own mother had never been the sort to fret over the bumps and bruises that children are wont to acquire. He recalled Dameron’s mother clearly — she had been the sort to feed into a child’s need to be fawned over when they were injured. And somehow he’d always gotten injured playing games with the older boy. 

Even when his father was around, Han would tell him to _man up_ whenever he got scraped knees. But this was no scraped knee. 

“Ben.” Rey’s fingers curled around his hand, squeezing tightly. “You have to hold on.” 

“Trying.” He answered weakly, tilting his head to look towards the direction they were headed. He could see the lights from the base a few hundred yards ahead of them. 

“Once we get him settled in Leia’s quarters, you have to raise the alarm about Connix.” Rey told Finn, keeping her fingers curled around Ben’s hand. “Tell Poe, he has good rapport with everyone. They’ll listen to him.” 

“You’ve got it, Rey.” Finn said with a short nod as he continued onwards. 

Ben coughed sharply, eyes clenched closed as he tried to ignore the waves of pain that radiated from his abdomen. 

“What is it?” Rey questioned.

“Tried to laugh,” Ben managed to get out.

Finn glared at him, “What’s so funny?”

“Poe Dameron being listened to.” 

Rey snorted her own laugh and Ben smirked, feeling all the more enamored with her. If only things were different.

She released her hold on his hand, moving ahead of them to push open the door to the quarters he assumed were his mother’s. His vision went dark at the edges as he tried to lift his head to look around him. Even that slight effort seemed too much for him. 

Finn deposited him on a rather uncomfortable bunk to the left of the room and Ben strained time look around for his mother. 

“Where is she?” He questioned as Rey moved into his line of vision and knelt down beside him. 

“I’ll find her.” Finn offered before he was out the door. 

“You’re looking really pale.” Rey said as she brushed her fingers against his cheek. “Hey, keep your eyes on me.”

Ben blinked slowly, trying to keep his focus on her. Everything was dark at the edges, his vision blurring. “I wonder why I’m pale.” He remarked, gesturing weakly at his stomach. 

“How are you making jokes right now?”

He shrugged his shoulders a little, which was a grievous error. He inhaled sharply, his hand moving to the edges of his injury, feeling the dampness of his blood soaking through his shirt. 

“You have to stay with me, Ben.” Rey urged, placing her hand over his on his stomach. “I can’t do this without you.”

“You can,” Ben told her with a faint smile, before he let his eyes slip closed. They were _so_ heavy. 

“But you won’t have to.” Leia said firmly. 

Ben forced himself to open his eyes, the ache in his chest growing harder to ignore as his gaze fell on his mother’s face. “ _Mom_.”

“Oh, Ben.” She murmured as she sat herself down on the edge of the bunk, reaching out to touch his face. He leaned into her touch, tears slipping down his cheeks. “I missed you, little _Wookiee_.”

He sputtered out a laugh. He hadn’t heard that nickname since he was young — before he’d gone away to train with Luke. “I’m sorry. For everything. For not being… the son you deserved.”

Leia shook her head slowly, “No, Ben… I wasn’t the mother you needed me to be. I got caught up in trying to be what the galaxy needed, what the Rebellion needed — and I forgot what _you_ needed.” 

Ben ignored the pain he felt as he pushed himself to sit up. Rey protested, but he didn’t let her pleas to stop moving deter him. This was the moment he’d waited for since he’d been a scared little boy, desperate for his mother. 

Leia wrapped her arms around him, cradling the back of his head as he sobbed into her shoulder. “I should’ve been there when you needed me, but I worried I wasn’t able to help you. I thought Luke would know what to do.”

“I just needed _you,_ ” Ben whispered desperately, pulling back a little to look at her. “I never _wanted_ to be a Jedi.”

“I know,” Leia said gently, helping him lay back down on the bed. “But I knew there was a darkness about you and I thought… I thought _wrong_.” She touched his cheek, brushing his hair back off his brow. “But you’ve found the light now, haven’t you?”

“It’s too late.” Ben’s voice cracked and he coughed harshly, tasting copper on his tongue. 

“ _Ben.”_ Rey moved back into view and he tried to tilt his head to look at her as she moved to the head of the bed. “Leia, we have to do something. He’s…”

“Dying.” Ben said for her, swallowing thickly as he sank back against the bunk. 

“He’s not going to die today,” Leia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Rey, go get the others.”

“But—“

“Go.”

Ben clenched his eyes closed as he felt another cough rattling in his lungs. He barely had the energy to draw in a full breath, much less cough the way he needed to. “Why did you lie to her?”

“I didn’t lie, Ben.” Leia said as she used the edge of a blanket to wipe the blood off his lips. “You are young. You have so much life yet to live. There is a fight ahead that relies on you _and_ Rey.”

He blinked slowly, trying to focus his eyes on her. “The rebellion needs _you_.” 

“I’m already dying. But I have enough life in me to give to you.” She rested her hand on his chest as she looked down at him. 

“You can’t—“

“I can and I will, Benjamin.” She said firmly, giving him a look he hadn’t seen since he’d been a boy. “I have already made up my mind.”

He tried in vain to get up, but his energy wasn’t there. “ _Mom_.”

“Hush. It’s been decided.” Leia smiled down at him. She looked towards the door briefly as it creaked open, revealing Rey with her friends in tow. 

Poe looked like he’d just been roused from bed, his hair sticking up at all angles and his shirt barely tucked into his trousers. Even when they’d been children, Ben recalled how ‘put together’ he’d always been. 

“What the hell is _he_ doing here?” He questioned, hands on his hips as he walked further into Leia’s quarters, glaring angrily in Ben’s direction. 

“We’ve been through this already.” Rey said exhaustedly, shaking her head. “You know why he’s here.” 

Ben didn’t recognize the other young woman who stood beside Finn. Rose, perhaps — Rey had mentioned that name before. 

Leia stroked Ben’s cheek gently, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead before she rose from the bed. “There is not much time to explain _everything_ to you.” She said as she turned to face the others. “This is not a decision I make lightly. Like I said before,” She said to Rey, “I may not know a lot about the Force, but there are some aspects of it I am familiar with.” Leia stood a little taller, “I intend to give what remains of my life force to my son.” 

“I don’t understand.” Rey said as she looked towards Ben. 

“ _General_ —” Poe started, but Leia raised a hand to silence him. 

“I have a few weeks left to live, at best.” She said and that alone seemed to force Poe to back down from whatever high horse he’d planned to take. 

Ben sputtered, trying to catch his breath, but it was growing more and more difficult to keep enough oxygen in his lungs. It was hard to focus on what his mother was saying — his hearing seemed to fade in and out, just the same as his vision. “Re—“ 

“I’m here.” Rey said as she moved to kneel beside his cot. “Leia there isn’t much time.” 

She was right. There wasn’t much time left. He was barely clinging on to what little life he had within him. Everything felt cold — even colder than the frigid moon they’d traveled to. The strangest part was that the pain seemed to lessen as his body started to give up. 

“I’m sorry.” Ben whispered, eyes flickering as he tried to keep them open. 

“ _Leia_.”

He hadn’t even realized that his mother was still speaking to the others. Everything seemed so far away. Like a dream… like a _nightmare_. 

“Stay with me Ben.” Rey pleaded with him and he could feel her tears falling onto his cheeks. He felt the brush of her lips against his own, just before he succumbed to the darkness that was dragging him under. 

* * *

“We were able to intercept two cargo vessels leaving Bespin’s orbit, Supreme Leader.” General Parnadee, “Ship logs suggested that they made several voyages into the Cademimu Sector over the last three months.”

Hux’s lips twisted into a pleased smirk. “Then we have them.” He said as he turned to look at the General.

“While it confirms there are supplies leaving Bespin that _may_ be aiding the Resistance, it does not provide us with a clear location of the rebel base.”

“Have they been able to decipher the encryption left by Kylo Ren? Reports were tampered with for months.”

The General hesitated, “Nothing pertaining to the location of the base.”

Hux narrowed his eyes. “ _Impossible_. You and I both know that Kylo Ren redacted numerous reports that would’ve allowed us to _end_ the rebels months ago.”

“I didn’t disagree.” Parnadee assured him, taking a step backwards. “But what we’ve gone through was not revealed anything relevant.”

“And _where_ are the cargo ships?”

“They’re being held on the _Retribution_ in the Bespin System, sir.”

Hux’s fingers curled into fists, “I want the cargo unloaded and the vessels returned to their point of origin. Detpacks programmed to detonate upon opening the cargo holes. I want to send a message.”

General Parnadee hesitated for a moment and Hux prepared to yell at her — to remind her _who_ was in control now. He wouldn’t yield to foolish notions of _justice_. He wouldn’t play the cat-and-mouse games Kylo Ren favored. He went straight in for the kill. 

The General saluted him, “Yes, sir. I’ll deliver the orders to the _Retribution_.”

Hux turned his focus towards his Lieutenant then, “Progress on our little project?”

“Yes,” The man nodded as he held out a datapad for Hux. “Bespin has two moons. We’ve identified a prime candidate that would send a message, yet not render the system inhospitable to First Order occupation.”

Hux swiped through the detailed reports the Lieutenant had proved him with. The moon was ideal for temporarily disrupting commerce out of Bespin. “Once the cargo vessels are returned, I want the weapon aimed at the moon. As soon as conditions improve, I want a heavy First Order presence. We’re sending them a message.”

“Yes sir.” The Lieutenant nodded his head sharply, before leaving Hux’s presence hastily. 

He’d made a note of that. Everyone seemed to fear him the way they’d feared Kylo Ren’s bouts of anger. It brought him endless joy to know that he didn’t need an intimidating mask to strike fear into their hearts. 

The Galaxy would soon forget the name Kylo Ren — but they’d never forget the name Armitage Hux. 

* * *

Leia had urged Finn, Poe, and Rose to wait outside, but she hadn’t been able to convince Rey to leave. She had been beside herself, tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched Ben’s features relax in a way that convinced her they’d been too late. 

But she could still _feel_ him — a faint flicker of light still beating within her chest like her own heart. 

No matter how many times she’d wiped her hands off on her leggings, Ben’s blood was still staining her palms. If he died, she was certain that blood would always be there. She’d been the one to urge him to see his mother one last time — she hadn’t expected it to be so literal. She had been distracted — if she had been more focused, she would’ve known Connix had followed them. She could’ve prevented all of this, if only she’d been _better_. 

“I will always be with you, Rey.” Leia told her as she placed her hands on her shoulders, touching her chin to urge her to lift her gaze away from staring at Ben’s prone form. “You and Ben both.”

“I wasn’t ready to lose you.” Rey said as she sniffed, wiping her tears away. “I still have so much to learn from you.”

Leia smiled weakly at her, “You have learned more than you realize.” She squeezed Rey’s shoulder before she pulled away to return to Ben’s side. “I always knew… my life for my son. When I was pregnant with him, I had these visions — vague shapes of the future.”

What would the Resistance be without her? Where would any of them be? Poe was a decent leader when he tried — but he was far from General Organa. Worse, was her fears about what would come after this. Leia would be gone and there would be questions. Connix had already worked at sowing seeds of discord. Would anyone even believe them?

“I believe in you. In both of you.” Leia told her as she placed her hands on either side of Ben’s face. Rey watched as the older woman closed her eyes, her brows drawn together with effort. 

It was a surreal scene to witness. A pale blue light seemed to swell around the mother and son — something lifted away from Leia’s chest, merging with a similar shape that had risen up from Ben’s body. It glowed bright, so much so that Rey had to shield her eyes. 

Once the light faded and Rey could _finally_ look back again, she discovered that Leia was gone. Her clothes had fluttered to the ground, pooling beside the side of the bunk. Ben remained deathly still, no sign of even a flicker of life. 

Rey took slow steps forward, her heart pounding in her chest as a dread sank into her gut. She could still feel him, but she questioned whether that meant everything. She reached out to touch his hand, choking back a sob as she felt that his skin was cool to the touch. 

“ _Wait_.” She whispered as her eyes flickered to his abdomen. His shirt was still bloody and torn, but his wound had knit itself closed — no sign of trauma existed there now.

Rey sniffed quietly as she knelt beside the bunk, resting her palm against his chest as she shook him gently, “Ben.”

Suddenly he jerked, his fingers curling around her wrist as his eyes snapped open. Confusion marred his face, eyes darting back and forth across the ceiling, before he settled on her face. “Rey?” He questioned, slowly sitting up. 

“I’m here.” Rey smiled softly at him, slowly twisting her arm out of his grasp. “How do you feel?”

“Did she—“ His eyes flickered downwards to the clothes on the floor, his expression falling. 

Rey practically launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into the crook of his neck. “She _saved_ you.”

She anticipated that he would pull away from her. That he’d fall back into that place where he seemed convinced that he had to _die_ — that he had to do it all alone. But he didn’t. Not yet. 

“She saved _me,_ ” Ben muttered, his voice muffled against Rey’s shoulder and she swore she felt _his_ tears dampening the sleeve of her tunic. 

* * *

“This isn’t _ideal,_ ” Poe said as he perched on a cargo crate, arms crossed across his chest. “Kylo— _Ben_ returning just as I’m being forced into the General role. Connix going rogue.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “ _Shit_.”

“You’ve got this,” Finn said reassuringly as he moved to sit on the crate beside him. “We’ve just got to keep moving forward. Jannah and I will head out in a couple of hours…”

“I can’t leave the base.” Poe reminded him, pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek. “Rose, will you be able to rendezvous with Lando? I had planned to ship out to Bespin tomorrow, but....”

Rose halted mid-pace. “Of course. Whatever you need me to do.” She looked between the two men. “But you do realize you’re going to have issues, don’t you? _Everyone_ loved Connix. They’re not going to accept what happened as _truth_.” 

“But I saw it with my own eyes,” Finn protested. 

“Rose is right,” Poe sighed heavily. “Just because one of us saw it, doesn’t mean they’ll believe us.” He glanced towards Leia’s quarters, brows furrowed. He still had so much left to learn from Leia about becoming a General — but there was no time left. Now he had to summon the leadership skills he’d gleaned from her and his parents. 

Finn reached over and took Poe’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “They respect you. Don’t undermine yourself.” 

“I’m glad _someone_ believes in me.” Poe squeezed his hand, tilting his head to look at him. “You sure you still want to pull the uprising, in the midst of all of this?” 

“ _Poe_.” 

He was undeterred, “I could use your help around here.” Rose cleared her throat, giving Poe a judging glare. “I know, I know.” 

“I’ve got to do this,” Finn said quietly. 

“Yeah.” Poe released his hold on Finn’s hand, raking his fingers through his hair. “It’s just, right when I need my _friends_ , you’re all going to be scattered to the wind.”

“But,” Rose started with a hopeful voice. “We’re all working towards the larger goal. Hopefully, when we come back together, victory will be on the horizon.”

“A victory at what cost?” Poe questioned, pushing off the crate with a shake of his head. 

The door to Leia’s quarters opened slowly and Rey emerged with an unreadable expression. She still had tears in her eyes, which made Poe’s gut twist into a knot of anxiety. 

“It worked.” Rey told them. “Leia… Leia’s gone.”

Poe could see the tall figure of Ky— Ben Solo looming behind her just within the quarters. It wasn’t fair that Leia had to die to save.. _him_. He still hasn’t forgiven him for torturing him. How did a person let that go? Especially given the fact that they’d known each other as children. Though he frequently denied that fact. 

But through it all, he had known that Leia had loved her son. She had held out impossible hope for a day like this. And he wondered, truly, if she’d known all along that it would culminate in this. She had prepared him for becoming General. 

“You must keep this quiet,” Ben warned them, gaze kept low as he followed Rey out of the quarters. “General Organa carries weight throughout the galaxy, if they learn that she's gone—“

Poe interrupted him, “We put out a call on Crait. No one came. Her name doesn’t carry the weight you think it does.” He set his jaw hard, “I won’t be the mouthpiece to a phantom general.”

Ben lifted his gaze to meet Poe’s, “Then that’s your decision, _General_.”

Rose stepped into the space between them, pulling their focus to her. “Rey, what is your plan?”

“ _Plan_?” Rey exhaled heavily and Poe made a note of how exhausted she looked. “I guess…” She looked to Ben then. “We have to stop Palpatine.”

“The cultists have occupied a planet in the Unknown Regions. I have a wayfinder that can lead us to their planet.” Ben explained, stepping out of the threshold and into the dawning light of morning. 

“So, you’re really… on _our_ side?” Finn questioned. 

“I am.” Ben answered with a nod. 

Poe rubbed his hands together, looking between his friends and Ben. “Here’s the plan. I stay here, man the base and manage the fallout,” He pointed at Rey, “You and Ben can go follow the wayfinder and find a way to stop the Sith from rising.” He turned his gaze to Finn then, “You and Jannah gather support and get them here. Even if they defeat the Sith — we have the First Order to combat.” Finally, he looked to Rose, “You’ll serve as our diplomat to Bespin, get Lando on board.”

“ _Lando_.” Ben stepped past Rey, his brows raised in surprise. “I knew you were obtaining resources from Bespin, but I didn’t know…”

“You _knew_?”

“I knew more than the First Order knew.” He admitted. “I tried to cover your tracks.”

Poe was taken aback. It was hard to wrap his head around the idea that he’d helped the Resistance even as the Supreme Leader. 

“I told you they were tracking us.” Rose shoved Poe in the shoulder. 

Poe rolled his eyes, shifting back to business. “You two need to get out of here before the sun’s fully up.”

“Shouldn’t we—“ Rey started, but her voice faltered. “You’re right.”

“We’ll take the TIE.” Ben said, resting his hand on Rey’s shoulder.

“I don’t have any wise words of guidance, I’m not Leia.” Poe stated as he looked between them. “And I don’t know anything about the Force, but.. this feels like the right time say — may the Force be with you.”

Ben held out his hand and Poe took it, shaking it. “May the Force be with _you_ , General Dameron.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Poe snorted a laugh. “Don’t get sentimental on me, Solo.”

“Wouldn’t dare.” He shot back with a quick smirk.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being such wonderful readers! I regret not being able to get to replying to your comments. I started work on a TV show this week and I'm absolutely wiped out. Initially, I thought this story would be finished at chapter fifteen, however as I write it seems that chapter eighteen is more likely to be the end. I started working on chapter seventeen last night.

Ben exited the TIE fighter just as Rey returned with a bag of supplies slung over her shoulder and Rose trailing along beside her. The reality still hasn’t fully set in. He had come to Ajan Kloss with the belief that it would be the last time he ever saw his mother and Rey — he had been convinced that he would die in the effort to defeat Darth Sidious. He hadn’t planned on his mother sacrificing her life for him, giving him a new lease on life. 

He ran his thumb over the drive he held in his palm, walking across the clearing a short distance to meet Rey and Rose. “This contains schematics for several First Order vessels. The _Finalizer_ , the _Retribution_ , and a new vessel that hadn’t yet been commissioned into the Navy.” Ben explained as he passed the drive to Rose. “I’m sure Hux has made efforts to alter access codes and security protocols, but it’s something.”

“Thank you,” Rose said as she took the drive from him, staring at it for a few seconds. “This could change everything.”

“Let’s hope.” Ben said with a short chuckle, his gaze flickering towards Rey. “Are you ready?”

Rey nodded, “As ready as anyone can be.” She shouldered the bag she had slung over her arm, looking to Rose then. “Good luck in Bespin.”

Rose hugged Rey, squeezing her tightly. “You’re the one who needs _luck_.” She remarked, before she pulled back and looked like she might try to hug Ben next.

He took a wary step back, shaking his head slightly. 

“I wasn’t going to!” Rose said lightly, giving him a very serious look. “You’re as bad as Poe.”

Ben made a face. “I take offense to that.”

“ _Good_. You should.” Rose rolled her eyes. She held the drive up, “Thanks again.”

“Yeah.” He muttered and nodded. “Come on.” Ben said, before he started back towards the TIE. Ben glanced back over his shoulder to see Rey and Rose hugging once more, before Rey followed after him. 

The TIE Silencer wasn’t a vessel meant for two passengers. There was only one seat in the cockpit, but there was enough space for her to brace herself should they run into issues. “Sorry, it’s a bit cramped.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to take the Star Commuter.” Rey teased lightly, dropping her bag of supplies on the floor as she moved to inspect the flight computer — where he had installed the Wayfinder into the navigational system. A faint red orb glowed at the center of the device. “Threepio and Artoo tried to figure out why Luke had sketches of the wayfinder on Ahch-To.”

Ben sighed a little, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned against the pilot’s seat. “Because he knew…” He revealed. “I think that’s one of the reasons he tried to kill me. He thought he could stop it, but that didn’t work.” 

“What part do I have in this? Aside from being the other half of the dyad.” Rey questioned, turning to look at him.

“I don’t know,” He offered with a shrug of his shoulders. “I can only theorize _why_. I have no answers.” Ben dragged his fingers through his brows knit together thoughtfully. “You’re ten years younger than I am, when I was ten Snoke’s power over me grew. I had been training with my uncle for a few years, but I had grown rather insular. I rarely went home, no matter how often I begged to go see my parents. Snoke became a near-constant voice in my head. Someone to speak to when I felt alone. I think, perhaps the Force knew what was happening and it created you as a foil to me.”

Rey’s lashes fluttered, her lips moving like she was attempting to find the right word to start her response with. “What we felt last night… What was _that_?”

“There was a shift in the Force because of _me_ ,” Ben explained. “I made my choice to come here, to break away from the First Order, to turn my back on the Dark Side.” 

“Balance?” Rey questioned with a hopeful look in her eyes that made his heart ache. He wanted to do right by _her_ — but he knew his own track record. 

Ben’s lips twisted into a faint smile. “ _Balance._ ” He moved to sit in the pilot’s seat, flipping a few necessary switches. “We need to clear out. Poe was pretty insistent about us clearing out before the sun rose.”

Rey lingered beside the chair, arms folded across her chest. “Are we going to talk about what happened?”

“I’d rather not.” He said as he readied the ship for departure. Ben hadn’t even mentally processed what had happened. He was good at repressing his emotions, though it was less easy to ignore what he felt when he wasn’t using anger as his mask. 

He didn’t have the heart to tell Rey the truth either. For a very brief moment, he had been dead. She had to know — deep down, she would’ve felt him die through their bond. It had been the most peaceful experience. He had been free of pain, free of the voices in his mind, he had been at peace in the darkness of death. A greedy part of him wished that he’d been allowed to stay there. 

How was he supposed to discuss that with Rey? When her eyes were still swollen and red from the fear of losing him. When his own were still sore from crying over his mother’s sacrifice. 

Rey reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder, “You shouldn’t worry about what I’ll think of the truth, Ben.”

Ben leaned forward just enough to cause her hand to slip off his shoulder. He reached out to adjust a sensor, that hadn’t _needed_ to be adjusted. He hated himself, just a tiny bit, for keeping that wall between them. He had nearly died and yet he still couldn’t convince himself to give in to the feelings he had for Rey. 

Perhaps he truly was _broken_. His parents hadn’t had the most stable relationship. They’d quarreled everytime his father had come home. Love had always felt conditional. Snoke had been the voice in his head reaffirming that thought. His mother would never love him because he had too much darkness in him. His uncle would never love him because he was afraid of him. His father would never love him because he feared the Force. He was never _enough_ to know what love could really be. And if he’d known love, he’d been convinced by Snoke that it wasn’t love. 

Snoke had tried to corrupt his fascination with Rey too. Pointing out his compassion for her. That he had too much of his father’s heart beating within him. But he’d never fully been able to ruin it for him. If Snoke had been able to, he wouldn’t have been able to murder the monster to spare her. 

Ben tensed when he felt Rey’s consciousness brush against his own. His body going rigid as his head snapped in her direction. “ _What_ do you think you’re doing?”

Rey pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes at him. “We can’t do this if you keep a wall between us.” She urged, her fingers curled into fists at her side as she resisted the temptation to reach out for him again. 

Ben mirrored her expression, narrowing his eyes at her. “Stay out of my mind.” He warned her sharply, setting the ship on course to follow the path of the wayfinder. “Hold on, we’re about to jump.”

Rey stubbornly reached out and curled her fingers around his shoulder to brace herself as the ship pitched forward as he pushed it into hyperdrive. 

Once the ship leveled out, he reached up and placed his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze. 

* * *

Finn was leaving with Jannah, whether Poe approved of it or not. Of course, he’d said he approved — but his face told a different story. His expression was marred with worry and Finn did his best to plaster on a brave face to mask his own hesitations. He knew it was the best thing to do, but he also knew it was dangerous. Everything seemed to be precariously hanging in the balance. 

“Keep in touch with base, I want reports of where you are. Progress.” Poe said, trying his best at sounding like a General and not a worried… Finn didn’t even know what they’d call each other. Boyfriend? 

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll hear so much from me you’ll get bored.” Finn said with a wave of his hand, moving to open a cargo crate and checking on the supplies. 

“And you’re good with your team?”

Finn nodded, “They’re good. Obviously I wish you and Rose could tag along, but…” He shrugged a shoulder. “You’ve got big duties now, _General_.” He closed the crate and gestured for Ni’ack, one of the recruits assigned to the mission, to load it. 

“Just come back in one piece,” Poe said quietly, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip as he studied Finn. 

He let his mask slip as he turned to look at Poe. “I’m gonna try.” Finn stepped towards the man, his shoulders sinking as he stopped in front of him. “You better not get into any trouble while I’m gone.”

Poe huffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m starting out embroiled in trouble.” 

Finn reached out and touched Poe’s cheek, “These people believe in you. They’ll listen and rise to the occasion.”

“I hope so,” Poe leaned into Finn’s touch, before he was quick to stand up straighter, recognizing that they weren’t exactly alone. “Well, Captain… I can see you have—“

Finn’s hand moved from Poe’s cheek and rested at the curve of his neck. He leaned in and pressed his lips to his. Poe responded instantly, one hand moving to Finn’s shoulder while the other slid around the back of his head. “I’ll come back.” He said quietly as he broke from the kiss, pressing his forehead against the pilot’s. 

“You better.” Poe countered with a grin. 

“Guess everyone knows now.” Finn teased lightly, keeping his forehead pressed to Poe’s for a few moments longer. 

“Were we keeping it a secret?”

“I dunno,” Finn said, pressing a quick kiss to Poe’s lips before he pulled back. “Might seem like the General is fraternizing with his subordinates.”

“Scandalous.” Poe clicked his tongue against his teeth, his gaze pulled away to Finn as Jannah passed by them. “You better keep him safe.”

Jannah laughed sharply. “I’ll do my best. But this _is_ war.”

Poe grumbled and Finn shook his head. “I’ll send a transmission once we get back to Kef Bir.” 

He gave a short nod, “Be safe.” 

“You too.” Finn started to walk away, but he stopped, turning back to look at Poe. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

Poe gestured to himself, “Me? _Never_.” 

Finn smiled at the man one last time before he headed onto the vessel. It hurt like hell to leave him behind. It had never been like that before when Poe had gone on supply runs — it hadn’t felt like walking away from a part of himself. Whoever thought having feelings for someone was a good thing had been _seriously_ mistaken. 

* * *

Rey wished that Ben would open up to her. Before, when they’d been on opposite sides of the war he’d been so easy to read — but now that they stood side-by-side he’d closed himself off. Somewhere, along the way, he’d been taught that being emotionally available meant showing weakness. And she understood that. Her formative years had been spent living alone in the wreckage of war — pining for parents that would never return to her. Yearning for love that had been a figment of her imagination. 

Within the Resistance, she’d learned it was _okay_ to be vulnerable. But Ben seemed to be so black and white about it all. Perhaps his Jedi training could be blamed for that. From everything she’d gleaned from the Jedi texts and Luke’s journals — the Jedis were to blame for their own downfall. How they’d ever thought restricting one’s emotions, forbidding attachments, denying oneself the simple pleasures of life. 

No wonder Snoke had been able to manipulate Ben so easily. He felt emotion so _strongly_ — she’d felt the echoes of his emotions through their bond. He was a live wire. 

“Should we destroy the artefacts before we get there?” Rey questioned as she adjusted herself on the floor of the Silencer, the durasteel digging into her tailbone. 

“I don’t know,” Ben said with a heavy sigh.

Rey’s brows furrowed together. “It still feels like a trap. Like we’re playing into their plan.” Whoever _they_ were. The cultists? The Sith? Darth Sidious himself?

Ben swiveled the pilots’ seat around to face her, his expression solemn. “That was part of the reason I had planned to do this alone. In case it _was_ a trap. The Resistance needs you. Your _friends_ need you.” He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes before he raked his fingers over his face. “The voice—“

“Do you hear it now?”

He shook his head, lowering his gaze. “It’s quiet when you’re here.” Ben sank back in his seat, “Do you understand what _balance_ means?”

“ _Obviously_.” Rey scoffed. 

“That we’re equal parts light and dark.” Ben continued. “One wrong step and either one of us can descend into that darkness. That’s what you fear, isn’t it?” 

Rey blinked at him, her heart beating a little faster as she felt his mind brush against her own. She pushed back, keeping him out. “You don’t need in my mind that know _that_.” She snarled, “We both saw futures where we embraced the darkness. But you told me that it was just one path. Is there no path where we embrace both parts of ourselves?”

Ben pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek. “I never saw a path where we embraced the duality. It was one or the other or… a path where you prevailed.”

“But isn’t that what I saw? When I saw you turn… doesn’t that imply that we’ve both accepted and embraced the darker parts of what we are?” Rey pressed, pushing her fingers through her hair with a sigh. “Is that what you’re afraid of? That I’ll go towards the Dark side?”

“There’s a lot I’m afraid of.” He admitted defeatedly. “A time, not long ago, I would’ve encouraged you to embrace the darkness. To take my hand and join me, but… Kylo Ren is dead.”

Rey swallowed thickly. “But Ben Solo is alive.”

He laughed sharply. “Ben Solo was a boy who was never enough. That’s who I am. Everyone’s pawn.”

She scrambled to her feet and moved the short distance to him. “You’re enough for me.” She reached out and touched his face, tracing her fingertips over the scar she’d given him. “I would’ve taken your hand. _Before_. I wanted Ben. I wanted you, like this.” Rey confessed, holding his gaze. “I don’t care what’s come before this. I don’t care that you were lost for awhile. You turned, like I knew you would.” Her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat as he curled his hand around hers against his cheek. “You have to let go of whatever is holding you back. We’re not going to be able to do this if you keep me out.”

Ben clenched his eyes closed and leaned into her touch. Rey felt it the moment he let the wall between them down, waves of grief and remorse flooding the bond between them. _Love_. 

“That’s what we need.” Rey said suddenly and his eyes snapped open to meet her gaze. 

“ _What_?”

“Love!” Rey leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips — an action made far easier by the fact that he was sitting. “Everyone fights with hate and anger and a righteous belief that they’re _right_ … but love. That’s how we’re going to win.” Rose had told her that once, after Crait, and she was right. Love could win even the darkest wars. 

* * *

“I can pilot if I need to.” Rose remarked as sat in the seat beside Chewie who was complaining about being seated in the pilot’s seat. “I thought you’d enjoy the option.”

Chewie threw his head back and let out a morose remark. 

“You’ve been copilot your entire life on this ship, Chewie. Besides,” Rose flipped a switch on the dashboard, adjusting the system levels. “I’m trying to make up for destroying the holochess.”

She felt _horrible_ about it still. Especially after Chewie had revealed that his grief over the game came from the fact that there were stored games in the system from when he and Han would play. A memory of a friend that was gone. Paired with the loss of Leia — Rose felt awful for him. He’d lost three people he considered his closest friends. 

It was one of the reasons Poe decided he was the perfect person to send on the mission to Bespin. Lando Calrissian was an old friend and he hoped that a reunion between the two of them would help Chewbacca process. None of them really understood how Wookiees processed grief and loss. 

Though, in the midst of war — how did _any_ of them process loss? Rose knew she hadn’t fully come to terms with the loss of her sister. A small part of her still believed that once the war was won, Paige would be there waiting for her. She hoped that wherever Paige was, she was proud of her and the way she’d risen to the occasion. She’d always thought Rose was meant to be more than a mechanic, though it was the field she excelled in. 

Chewie reluctantly conceded to her request for him to pilot, pushing the ship through hyperspace. Rose rose from her seat once they were safely coasting, moving to examine one of the control panels. 

“When we get back, I need to install the hyperjump system.” Rose remarked, pulling a socket driver from her back pocket to remove the durasteel plate, squatting down to look at the wiring. “I think it should be able to take it.”

Chewie grumbled about coaxcium leakage and Rose hesitated — considering the potential. 

“The Falcon might not be able to jump _quite_ as fast as it has been, but it’s a trade-off for not being tracked.”

He shrugged his shoulders, mumbling about her ruining holochess again. 

“I promise I’ll fix it.” Rose assured him, before she exited the cockpit, heading back through the corridors towards the table. She would’ve had it fixed back at base, had everything not gone haywire the second they got back. 

She still couldn’t believe that Leia was gone. It had been _so_ sudden. Finn had nearly beat down her door to get her to wake up, rambling about Kylo Ren and Leia — it had all felt like a waking nightmare. She knew so little about the Force, only what Rey had discussed over the short period of their friendship. 

A mother’s love, making the ultimate sacrifice to save her son. And maybe she shouldn’t have been so sympathetic towards someone like Kylo Ren — Poe and Finn certainly weren’t — but Rey believed in him so she was inclined to believe in him too. Rose just hoped that he and Rey could defeat whatever darkness loomed in the Unknown Regions. 

* * *

“You alright?” Jannah questioned as she sank down in the seat across from Finn, a brow arched upwards amusedly. 

Finn shrugged his shoulders, rubbing his hands together. “Yeah, just thinking about _everything_.”

“If the First Order knew how much chaos goes on at the rebel base, I don’t think they’d consider you all much of a threat.” She remarked with a short laugh, shaking her head. “Speaking of the First Order… is it true?”

“Is _what_ true?” Finn sat you a little straighter. 

“The one guy, he’s a bit of a bore…” Jannah made a face. “Beauregard?”

He laughed, “ _Beaumont_?”

“Yes. That’s the one. He nearly put me to sleep regaling me with the history of Ajan Kloss, but he also mentioned that…” Jannah lowered her voice, glancing at an officer as they passed by the table. “He claimed that Kylo Ren—“

Finn didn’t even give her a chance to continue the sentence. “Look, that’s Rey’s business.”

“So it’s _true_?”

“It’s a nuanced situation. I don’t like it.” He tried to be understanding — but he hated the idea of Rey galavanting off with _him_. He didn’t trust him. “But it’s not my business.”

“Seems like it ought to be your business, Captain. Someone in your midst is fraternizing with the Supreme Leader.” Jannah arched a judging brow. 

“He’s not the Supreme Leader anymore.” Finn assured her. “He defected. We can chalk that up to a victory for us.” He rubbed at the back of his neck with an exaggerated sigh. “I don’t trust him, but Rey does — and Leia did. And I trust _them_.”

Jannah gave him a skeptical look. “If he’s not the Supreme Leader… who are we up against?”

“Hux, I guess.” He leaned his elbows against the table. “Which is almost worse than Kylo Ren. I don’t know what _you_ saw, but… he’s crazy. Hell-bent on destruction.”

“I saw a lot,” Jannah glanced downwards. “We were still in after you killed Phasma. Hux came unglued in the aftermath. For as violent as Ren could be, Hux is a calculated sort of evil. He’ll play the long game.”

Finn nodded his agreement. “I recall a rumor that he orchestrated his father’s death.” 

She nodded, “I look forward to taking him down.”

“So do I.” Finn agreed. His interactions with Hux had been limited. But he knew what kind of leader Phasma had been — the two of them had been cut from the same cloth. Anyone who saw children and thought _soldiers_ had something wrong with them. 

“Captain,” Ni’ack started as she stepped into the crew quarters. “We’re approaching Kef Bir, readying for descent.”

“Thank you.” Finn offered, looking towards Jannah. “You ready?” He slid out of the booth, folding his arms across his chest. 

“Tiege should be ready to load up the cargo and ship out once we arrive.” Jannah said with a cock of her head, “ _Castilon_?”

Finn nodded his head, “Let’s hope you’re right.” He’d let Jannah identify the first planet for them to stop off at. From the information she’d received from base, Castilon had seemed like the ideal First Order occupied planet to garner support from. It had been taken over early in the First Order’s expansion — meaning the troopers stationed there were likely disenfranchised. The First Order had moved onto more powerful planets. 

The pair of them headed up into the cockpit, taking their seats in the two jump seats at the rear as Ni’ack and Jessika navigated the VCX-100 safely onto Kef Bir without issue. Once they’d initiated the landing gear and lowered the ramp, Jannah’s defectors got to work unloading cargo onto their own ragtag fleet of vessels. It wasn’t much — but it was _enough._

Finn made his way back inside to the cockpit of the VCX. He adjusted the transmission frequency, imputing the base code that allowed him to send a message back to Ajan Kloss. He’d promised Poe he’d keep in touch, as much as he could. 

He sank down into the pilot’s seat, picking up the radio. “Captain Finn over to General Dameron.” He stated, trying to keep the transmission as professional as possible. “We’ve arrived on Kef Bir. Once we finish loading cargo, we’ll head for the target.” Finn sighed a little, “I know we never got a chance to discuss Ryloth, but you’ll never guess who was here.”

That had been the most shocking discovery on Kef Bir. The Stormtrooper from Ryloth had taken his advice. It was gut-wrenching to discover that he was just a kid — barely seventeen and his face had already been marred by battle. 

It reaffirmed what they were fighting for. They weren’t just fighting a war, they were trying to free _children_ from a life of being cannon fodder. And for what? Blowing each other up to fuel a war profiteering machine?

“I’ll send another transmission once we arrive.” Finn regretted that he couldn’t say more — to remind Poe that he wished that he was there with him. “Finn, over and out.”

* * *

“Supreme Leader Hux,” General Parnadee started as she approached him. “We’ve received word from _the Retribution_ that the _Millennium Falcon_ just dropped out of hyperspace above Bespin.

Hux smirked wickedly at the prospect of capturing _that_ vessel and its crew. “I want it apprehended now.” He said flatly, turning to glare at the general. “And ready a transport vessel for me. I intend to welcome our _guests_ on the _Retribution_.”

Could he be lucky enough to have captured Kylo Ren? Had the fool run back to his _mummy_? Better yet, perhaps the vessel held the scavenger girl. Wouldn’t that be a marvelous discovery? That would pull Kylo Ren out of hiding. 

“Make sure the occupants are brought aboard alive. They’re worth more to me with their faculties intact.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And instruct them to ready the weapon. I want a show when I arrive.” 


	14. Chapter 14

The rain came down sideways, nearly blinding her as she walked headfirst into the downpour. Her boots lost traction in the thick mud it created, nearly sending her careening towards the ground. Rain was still such a novel concept to her. She’d spent the majority of her life in the desert, where it _rarely_ rained. Over the past few months, she’d grown more accustomed to the occasional rainstorm on Ajan Kloss — but _this_ , this was like the sky had decided to let forth an ocean upon them. 

Her hair was plastered to her face, the loosen strands sticking to the nape of her neck uncomfortably. Her clothes clung to her, soaked to the bone. She had wanted to wait it out in the Silencer until the storm passed, but Ben had been insistent that they needed to start their journey across Exegol. 

Rey couldn’t quite shake the feeling that she had been there _before_. It was an entirely irrational feeling, given that she could count the number of planets she’d been on with both hands. She hadn’t made a habit of venturing into the Unknown Regions — it was far too risky with the First Order lurking everywhere. But still, Exegol felt familiar.

Ben turned back to look at her, his dark hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks, standing out against his pale skin. He stopped, “You need to keep up.”

“I’m _trying_.” Rey huffed, wiping rain off her lips uselessly as she swept her hair off her cheeks. “Perhaps you could consider slowing down.” It was the same issue they’d faced on the frozen moon — he was twice her height and his legs carried him far quicker than her own. 

Lightning streaked across the sky behind him, casting them both in hues of eerie blue and Rey stumbled backwards. She had been here before — in a vision, in memory of the future. 

“Rey, what is it?” Ben questioned, taking a step towards her. 

Rey started to move backwards, her hand moving towards her hip to snatch her lightsaber from her belt. Her heart was pounding her pulse thrumming in her ears. Panic rose up in chest, making her chest, stomach twisted into nuts. Her boots lost purchase in the mud and she fell backwards. 

“They’re coming.” She whispered, but her voice was drowned out by a clap of thunder overhead. 

“Who?”

“I’ve been here. I’ve seen this.” Rey told him, fingers curling tightly around the hilt of her lightsaber as she managed to scramble up from the mud. 

Ben’s hand went to his own lightsaber, warily looking around them. “ _Who_?”

Before Rey could respond, another flash of lightning cracked the sky wide open above them. Her eyes darted from his face to a point beyond him, where dark figures loomed in the blue haze of rain and lightning. “Them!” She shouted, pointing towards them.

They were fleet on their feet, heavily armed, and shrouded in thick armor. She’d seen them before — standing alongside Kylo Ren. A path differently taken. 

Ben ignited his lightsaber as he turned to face them. “The Knights of Ren.” He told her flatly as she ignited her own blade and moved to stand beside him. 

Six against two seemed like unfortunate odds to Rey. The fear of the vision still clung to her. It had been so vivid — the cool rain on her skin, the mud beneath her nails. The panic of a fight she didn’t know how to face. 

“They’re skilled at combat.” He warned her, rolling his shoulders back and assuming a position of surprising ease. “Follow my lead.”

Rey nodded, planting herself firmly — as firmly as she could with the mud causing her boots to sink downwards. The Knights surrounded them, blades drawn and weapons posed to attack. 

She looked towards Ben, waiting for him to make the first move. He seemed so comfortable facing off with the Knights that had once been at his command. She was struck by own relaxed he stood, saber drawn and loosely held in his hand. 

“It doesn’t have to go this way.” Ben remarked to the warriors, his gaze cool and calculated as he looked between them. “You can stand with _us_. Stand against the Sith.” 

The Knights looked between one another in deliberation, before one charged forward, large blade drawn and poised to attack. Ben sidestepped easily, wildly wielding his lightsaber to fend off the attacker. 

Rey jumped into action, lightsaber gripped tightly in her grasp as she lunged at her own attacked. A scythe-like blade swiped at her, narrowly missing her shoulder as she rolled forward, sliding through the mud. The bottom of the scythe staff caught her off guard, slamming into the middle of her back. 

Her grip loosened on her lightsaber, she rolled a second time — igniting the other half of her emerald blade, shoving forcefully into the knight’s gut. 

Rey looked towards Ben who was fending off two attackers at once. One of them had caught him across the shoulder, his shirt torn and blood visible as the rain diluted it. 

She managed to right herself, charging at third attacker who went after Ben, she caught the knight off guard — sending him crashing to the ground. Rey used the Force to keep him pinned to the ground, but he fought against it. Were they Force-sensitive too?

Not that she had time to follow that line of thought further. 

Rey watched as Ben managed to use the Force to shove back his two attackers. He fought so differently like this — all of the rigidity he’d used in their own battles seemed gone. He fought with the same unbridled feral style that Rey attacked with. 

“Behind you!” Ben shouted and Rey turned around quickly, drawing her lightsaber to fend off the attack. Her saber cut through the weapon, but that didn’t deter the knight. With a swift movement, the knight slammed his fist into stomach, but Rey didn’t let it knock her down. She countered, smashing the hilt staff into the attacker’s mask. 

She pressed the activator, shutting off half of the lightsaber so she could sweep it effortlessly across the knight’s throat, effectively beheading him. 

Rey panted as she turned to look back at Ben, taking in the sight of him standing above the bodies of the two fallen knights. His shirt was torn in a second location, where a blade had caught him again. His hair was wild, despite the rain weighing it down and he turned to look at her with a battle-fueled frenzy. 

“How did you know?”

She blinked as she moved towards him, stepping over the body of one of the knights to stand close to him. “I saw this. Different, but still _this_. Years ago on Takodana — when I first touched that blade.” She gestured to his lightsaber as he returned it to his belt. It was still strange to see him wield that lightsaber, as opposed to his red crossguard lightsaber. The blue suited him. 

“What else did you see?”

Rey swallowed thickly, wiping rain off her face as she looked up at him. “A corridor. Dark like a system malfunction had cut power to the lighting. Perhaps a First Order vessel. I remember a siren going off.” She frowned as she recalled the way the vision had shifted, “The fall of the Jedi Temple. The fire. The smoke. Luke and Artoo.” Rey looked towards the fallen knights, “Them. I saw them and this battle, only… you were still Kylo Ren.” With trembling fingers she returned her own lightsaber to her hip. “And our fight on Ilum. Before the ground split apart.”

“ _Interesting_.” He frowned, looking away from her as he considered the vision. Ben rested his hand on his lightsaber, “This lightsaber wasn’t present for the fall of the temple.” 

“I think it was our connection.” Rey offered. She had considered the origin of the visions at length, more so in recent months. “We should keep moving.” 

Ben nodded with a grimace, his hand jerking up to clutch at one of the injuries he had sustained. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” Rey answered. She’d faired better than he had in the fight — though her shoulder felt bruised. Her gaze dropped to his wound. “Are _you_ alright?” 

He shrugged, “I’ll survive.” He turned away from her, his line of sight drawn towards the horizon where they were headed. “Can you feel it?”

Rey closed her eyes, trying to _feel_ whatever it was that he could sense. There was something. A faint pull towards the point on the horizon. Like a whisper drawing them forward. Her eyes snapped open and she turned to look at him. “It’s like a chant?”

“I think they know we’re here.” 

* * *

“We really have to stop meeting like _this,_ ” Rose remarked with no small amount of venom in her voice. Despite the current of fear running through her veins, she refused to let General Hux see even a hint of it in her demeanor. Her shoulders ached from the awkward way they had them twisted behind her back and attached to a fixture on the ceiling above her. There was just enough length to the cable to allow her shins to rest against the floor, but not enough for her knees to support her weight. The First Order excelled at torture. She was certain, wherever he was, Chewbacca had endured a similar fate. 

“Ah, but you’re a _welcomed_ guest aboard the _Retribution_.” Hux taunted, reaching out to pat her head like he might pet a loth-cat — not that she could picture him being kind to _any_ living thing. 

“ _Really_?” She snorted, looking away from him then. “I’d hate to see how you treat your prisoners then.” 

Hux smacked her harshly across the cheek, forcing her to turn her head back to glare at him. “If I were you, I’d tread lightly.” 

“If I were _you_ , I’d consider pulling the stick out of my ass.” Rose countered with a fury in her eyes as she glared up at him. “Actually, if I were you, I'd take a long drop from a short—” He smacked her across the mouth once more, hard enough to split her lip. 

“Shut up.” Hux flexed his gloved hand as though he’d hurt himself in the act. Served him right. “I want information out of you.” He snarled, kneeling down so he was eye-level with her. 

Rose reared back as much as she could with her arms restricted. She swung her head forward, aiming to connect her forehead with his nose but he pulled away from her. “I won’t tell you anything.” 

He grabbed her jaw harshly, fingertips digging into her skin. “If you know what’s _good_ for you, I’d reconsider.” His gaze bore into her own. “Where is Kylo Ren?” 

“Lost your Supreme Leader?” Rose’s brows rose upwards mockingly. She knew exactly where he was and she only hoped that he and Rey would be able to complete their own mission. 

Hux released his grip on her jaw and she steeled herself in anticipation for another strike, but it never came. “Kylo Ren relinquished that title. _I_ am the Supreme Leader.” He snarled at her, fingers curled into fists at his sides. 

Rose grimaced at the thought of ultimate power being in the hands of Armitage Hux. If Rey and Ben didn’t defeat Darth Sidious the Resistance would be damned on multiple fronts. 

“It must kill you to know that you only earned that title by default.” 

“It should’ve been mine all along!” Hux shouted, digging the heel of his boot into the ground as he stomped it. “Where is _he_?” 

“Why would I know where he is?” 

“Because we both know he can’t stay away from that scavenger girl.” 

“Her name is Rey.” Rose gritted out. 

He glared at her. “I don’t _care_ what her name is. _Where_ is he?” 

“I. Don’t. Know.” 

Hux let out a frustrated hiss, turning away from her and pacing. “We know that the Resistance uses Bespin for supplies. It’s only a matter of time before we identify the location of your base. As we speak First Order droids are stripping the _Millennium Falcon_ ’s main circuits for trip data.” 

Rose laughed harshly. “You think _any_ of our ships would fly with that data easily available? You underestimate us.” 

“No,” Hux started with a cruel tone. “ _You_ underestimate me. I will do what Kylo Ren failed to do. I will bring the end to the Resistance. “

“In your dreams.” Rose spit out blood from her lip on the ground, her eyes fixed on the Supreme Leader. “You won’t win.” 

“Such optimism for someone imprisoned on a First Order vessel.” Hux sneered. 

Rose just smirked at him. She had no idea if the message she’d transmitted back to Ajan Kloss had gone through. The _Retribution_ had taken them by surprise as soon as they dropped into the Bespin System. They were caught in the tractor beam before Chewbacca even had a chance to react. There was every likelihood that no one would come for them — not until they failed to return. By then, it might be too late. 

“I thought you said I was a _guest_.” 

“Don’t try my patience.” Hux warned, striding away from her towards the doorway. Rose strained her eyes to try to read the code he input into the door panel. Not that she could get out of her current predicament — no matter how she twisted her wrists, it wouldn’t give. 

“Get the information out of her.” Hux ordered someone just outside of Rose’s line of view. A moment later two Stormtroopers stepped inside of the holding cell, securing the door behind them. 

“So we meet again.” Said one of the troopers, his head cocked slightly to the side as they approached her. 

“You all look the same.” Rose countered. “So forgive me for forgetting where we’ve met.”

“The _Supremacy_. You and the traitor murdered Captain Phasma.” 

Rose stiffened, twisting at the binding around her wrists. “I recently learned that some considered that an _inspiring_ act.” Her gaze flickered to the Stormtrooper who hadn’t spoken yet. 

“ _Inspiring_.” The mocked the trooper with a humorless laugh. 

“You don’t have to do this.” Rose said quietly, her eyes flickering to the shock baton that the trooper had grasped firmly in his hand. Her eyes went to the silent Stormtrooper, “There’s a better life beyond this. Don’t you want to be free? To do what you want. To not be under some tyrant’s thumb.”

Despite the emotionless bucket the trooper wore, something seemed to shift in his body language. But her words didn’t deter the antagonist trooper. He moved towards her, striking her across the ribs with the baton. The electric pulse went through her and she cried out in pain. “Where is _he_?” The trooper demanded. 

“I don’t know!” She hissed out through clenched teeth, trying to shy away from the Stormtrooper as best she could. “Please don’t do this. You—“ She stared at the visor of the other trooper’s helmet, trying to implore them to listen to her. “You know other Stormtroopers have been defecting! You all know it. Don’t you want that too? Don’t you—“

The trooper struck her again across the ribs with the baton and she thrashed against the restraints. “FL-0389 you are _required_ to participate.”

FL-0389 took a step forward, but he hesitated again, still presumably staring at Rose. His helmet as aimed in her direction, but she had no idea what he was looking at. Had she managed to get under the trooper’s skin? Or was this some game to them? 

“ _Please_!” She rocked back on her shins, trying to alleviate the ache in her shoulders. “You know this isn’t the life you want. Serving these masters! You can be free.”

“FL-0389,” The Stormtrooper with the baton started, turning to face the other trooper. “Snap out of it. We must gather the information.”

“ _Why_?” It was the first time he’d spoken. 

“Because we have been given direct orders by the Supreme Leader.” The Stormtrooper scoffed. “ _Why_? Have you lost your mind?”

“What do we get out of it?”

“Exactly!” Rose interjected, trying her best to encourage descension. “There will be a place in the Resistance for both of you. Protection from the First Order.”

The baton wielding trooper turned to face her, “Enough out of you girl.” He raised the baton, posed and ready to strike her for the third time, but before he had the chance, the Stormtrooper collapsed where he stood. Behind him FL-0389 stood with his own baton still posed from striking the other trooper across the back of the head.

“Please get me out of these!” Rose squirmed, pushing up on her shins enough to press her toes into the ground to lift the weight off her shoulders. 

The Stormtrooper looked between the fallen trooper and Rose, before he dropped his baton and moved towards her. His fingers curled around her shoulder firmly once he managed to loosen the bindings, keeping her steady. 

“Thank you.” Rose said with a genuine smile. “I meant it. There’s a place for you in the Resistance, should you choose to.”

“Let’s get you out of here first.” The Stormtrooper remarked, canting his head to the side to regard her. 

Rose rubbed her wrists gingerly, looking towards the unconscious trooper. It had been so much easier when they’d donned the FO officer uniforms. The Stormtrooper had a good six inches on her. There was no way it would fit her. 

“You’re rather _short_ to be a Stormtrooper.” He remarked and Rose shot him a look over her shoulder. “In case you were considering.”

“I was.” Rose crossed her arms across her chest and looked towards the door. “Any other ideas?”

“Wait here.” The trooper remarked, moving towards the door panel and keying in a code. He exited the holding cell and for a few seconds Rose considered escaping in his absence. But she’d meant it when she told him there was a life beyond the First Order — that he’d have a place in the Resistance. If she abandoned him now, he’d be punished severely for aiding in her escape. 

Before she could humor the thought any further, the door slid open again. “Garbage transport.” He was a man of few words, apparently. 

Rose’s nose scrunched up in mild disgust. “But we have to get Chewbacca out too.”

The trooper gestured to his unconscious comrade. “This is for _him_.”

“Oh!” Rose moved to grab the trooper’s baton, slotting it into her back pocket — just in case she needed a weapon. 

She helped FL-0389 lift the other Stormtrooper into the garbage transport, “We have to move quickly. Do you know where Chewbacca is being held?”

“Cell 501.” He answered, adjusting the garbage to cover the trooper. “We were meant to interrogate him following your interrogation.”

“How long do we have before Hux returns?” She was certain he’d want to see the aftermath of her torture like the sadistic monster he was. 

He went rigid, turning his head to look at her. “He’s occupied with a new weapon. But we should avoid the patrols.”

Rose nodded her head slowly. “I’ll trust your guidance on that.” She remarked, arching a brow at him. “Do you go by anything other than FL-038–“

“Cyro.” He cut her off. “My name was Cyro.”

“You _remember_?”

“I was ten when they took me.” Cyro admitted. “The program erased everything… for a while. Recently, memories have come back.” He turned to look at her, “Would the Resistance really take someone like me?”

“You wouldn’t be alone.” Rose assured him with a smile. “Are there others like you here?”

Cyro nodded his head stiffly. “A few.”

“A few is good. Really good actually.” If there were even a few willing to rise up on the _Retribution_ — there was every chance they might have a real rebellion on their hands. One spark was all it took. 

* * *

“Hey Finn,” Jessika called out from the cockpit and Finn sat down the datapad he was reading, heading up the ramp to the cockpit. “You’re gonna want to come here.”

“What’s up?” He questioned, folding his arms and leaning against the back of her seat. 

“We just received a transmission from base.” She answered, reaching forward to switch on the radio. The transmission was disjointed from interference, but clear enough to understand. 

“Just received word from Rose,” Poe relayed. “They dropped out of hyperspace in the Bespin Sector.” The transmission faded out. “Tractor beam.”

Finn frowned. “Tractor beam?”

The transmission continued, “First Order capital ship.”

“ _Kriff_.”

“We are readying the X-Wings, but you should be closer.”

Finn moved towards the control panel, pulling up their flight path. They’d just crossed through the Bespin Sector, they’d have to double back. 

“Ni’ak, send a message back to base — let them know we have this handled.” Finn ordered, looking towards the pilot then, “Jess, chart a course to Bespin.”

“You’ve got it.” 

Finn raked his hand over his face as he headed back towards the crew quarters. He had to be a leader — had to act like he had a plan, even when he had no clue what they were about to get themselves into. Fake it till he made it. 

“Trouble?” Jannah questioned with an arched brow. 

“Change of plans.” 

“Well, _that_ is ominous.”

“The First Order got Rose and Chewie during their supply run. We’re closer than the Resistance is.” Finn chewed on his bottom lip. “We’re turning the ship around and heading there now.”

“That’s not what I signed up for.” She countered, rising from her seat with narrowed eyes. “My people are headed for Castilon.”

“We could use their presence for this, Jannah.” His shoulders sagged. “I can’t let something happen to them. If it was _your_ people… I’d help.”

Jannah gritted her teeth, jaw clenched as she averted her gaze. “It’s a suicide mission. Trying to board a First Order vessel… You could be sending us all to early graves.”

“We’re all going to die one day,” Finn said grimly. “But I’d rather die trying to rescue my friends.”

“And what’s your plan?”

“My plan…” Finn swallowed thickly, wracking his brain for a plan. Getting on the _Supremacy_ had been easy with D.J.’s plan. But that wouldn’t work this time. “The boy from Ryloth…”

“ _Dash_?”

He nodded. “He’s still got his cruiser and his armor. Right?” A plan was slowly forming. Dash could take them as prisoners — return to the First Order like a prodigal trooper. 

Jannah stared at him curiously. “He does…” She crossed her arms. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

Finn reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, “The First Order is going to have a _very_ successful day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot of fun to write, especially when an unexpected character came out of it. While you won't see Cyro without his helmet on in the story, just yet, I do want to share my fancast for him. Santiago Cabrera. [here](https://66.media.tumblr.com/21573bf23bcb8d29e1ccdefbd86e2c80/cdd41ed610bf2fcd-95/s400x600/92c9d8520ace6de1ee9954e9f45ba78135ee9e31.jpg) is a trading card I made for him, instead of working on the final chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story is almost over. This has honestly been SO much fun to write and I've loved hearing from each and every one of you. Thank you.

Ben’s fingers curled around the hilt of his lightsaber, eyes keenly flickering around their surroundings. It was eerily quiet within the Citadel — the only sound aside from their footsteps against the stone was the sound of the rain bearing down outside. He glanced to his right, taking in Rey’s reaction to the corridor of statues the walked among. Massive stone effigies to long-dead Sith Lords. A hall of forgotten power. 

“It reminds me of Ahch-To,” Rey remarked, catching his gaze. “There’s something ancient here. Something bigger than either of us.” 

“What you feel is the Dark Side of the Force.” Ben explained, his grip tightening on his hilt as he turned his attention back to carefully watching the space around them. “The Jedi Order was founded on the island, much the same way as the Sith cultists have created this shrine to the Dark Side.” 

“No,” Rey let out a contemplative hum. “I felt the pull of the Dark Side on Ahch-To. I don’t think either was established for one or the other. There was a mosaic, light and dark in balance with one another.” 

“A duality.” Ben’s brows furrowed, his attention drawn upwards towards one of the looming statues that towered above them. Figures from the Sith Era — those he had only ever read about in long-forgotten and cautionary tales. 

Rey stopped abruptly and Ben turned to look at her. She was staring at him, but something about her gaze told him that she wasn’t _looking_ at him. 

“What is it?”

“What if that’s what they wanted? _Balance_.” Rey’s hand went to her belt and she drew her lightsaber, igniting it as she whirled around. “Show yourself!”

“Rey—“ Ben drew his own blade, eyes darting across the shrouded darkness beneath the statues. “What do you see?”

“I…” Rey exhaled heavily, lowering her blade. “I thought someone was there. The shadows…”

“We have to keep moving.” Ben urged as reattached his lightsaber to his belt, stepping towards her. He reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder. “There’s no one there.”

Rey tensed and pulled away from his grasp. “I know what I saw.” She snapped, the emerald green of her lightsaber casting ominous hues across her face as she held towards him menacingly.

Cautiously he held up a hand in mock-surrender. “Lower your blade, Rey.” Ben’s lips pressed into a thin line as he looked between her and the lightsaber. “ _Easy_.”

Her expression softened and she blinked innocently. “Ben, what happened?”

“They’re playing with us.” Ben lifted his gaze towards the statues, feeling the burn of their vacant eyes on them. 

Rey stared down at her lightsaber, shutting it off and returning it to her belt slowly. “I don’t like this place.”

“I would worry if you did.” He quipped with a humorless puff of laughter. “Come on.” Ben offered her his hand and she took it, fingers curling tightly around his own. 

“What if this was all a trap?”

“I’ve considered that.” At length, he was still determined it was a ruse. Something larger than all of them had been at play throughout his life — throughout Rey’s. It was no coincidence that she’d found the BB unit containing the map to Ahch-To — that she’d been pulled to him by actions well outside of their own control. A dyad in the Force and now, perhaps, unwitting pawns to the Sith. 

* * *

Chewbacca let out a rumbling growl of distrust as he fastened his bandolier across his chest. She couldn’t blame him for being leery about trusting a Stormtrooper, but thus far Cyro had proven to be an ally. He had rescued her and Chewbacca, after all. 

“He’s a friend, Chewie.” Rose reassured the Wookie, casting a sideways glance towards Cyro as he programmed the door to give them a slight advantage. “And he has a plan, right Cyro?”

“Hmm?” He mused, turning his head to look back at them. At least she thought he was, it was hard to tell precisely where he was looking with that helmet on. “Oh, a plan! _Kriff_. Thought you had the plan.”

“He’s kidding.” Rose grabbed Chewie’s arm when he seemed poised and ready to use his bowcaster on their new accomplice. “We have to get to the power converters to kill the ship’s power. In the blackout, we’ll have to get the hangar bay and hope it’s a big enough distraction to get aboard the _Falcon_.” From there, it would be do or die. 

“The original plan had to be axed because _someone_ was too short.” Cyro taunted and Rose shot him an incredulous look. “Oh, right. I meant someone was too _tall_.” He gestured towards Chewbacca and Rose desperately wished he’d taken his helmet off so she could gauge his reaction. He had a decent sense of humor, that much she’d gleaned. 

“Does that work for you?” She questioned Chewbacca. The Wookie shrugged his acceptance. 

“That should do it.” Cyro patted his hand against the door control panel proudly. “They’ll be able to override the code easily, but it’s a few extra seconds.” He gestured for them to follow after him, guiding them down the corridor. “There will be two Stormtroopers down there,” He explainer as Rose fell into stride beside him. “They’re like me. They remember a life before all of this.”

“I don’t know how any of you have stayed this long, if you remember.”

“There’s a camaraderie. Even with those who _don’t_ remember. We’re all bound together. It’s hard to break from that.”

“What made you decide—“ Rose’s questioner was cut off as they rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a Stormtrooper running patrol. 

Rose quickly tucked her hands behind her back, feigning like she was restrained. In reality, she used the opportunity to curl her fingers around the baton — ready to strike if she had to. 

“FL-0389, state your business.”

“Prisoner transfer,” Cyro remarked cooly, gesturing towards Rose and Chewie. 

The Stormtrooper looked towards them and then back to Cyro. “Who authorized the transfer?”

“TK-3157.”

“There is no prisoner transfer scheduled at this time.” The Stormtrooper remarked skeptically. “I’m going to have to report this, soldier.” He warned, hitting a button on his armor that caused a siren to go off above them. 

Cyro moved swiftly, snatching the blaster out of the Stormtrooper’s grasp and slamming it into the side of his head. The Stormtrooper slumped back onto the ground, but the strike hadn’t taken him out. He twisted up and grabbed Cyro by the leg, pulling him down to the ground. 

Rose pulled the baton out of her back pocket and jumped into action. She grabbed the aggressor’s arm, wrenching it back as he tried to grab the blaster away from Cyro. She hit the switch on the baton and slammed it across the visor of the Stormtrooper, cracking it open with an electrical _pop_. 

Cyro grabbed the trooper by the shoulder and slammed him back against the ground, keeping a knee pressed into his chest. “You’re going to give the all-clear.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.” The Stormtrooper retorted, the modulator on his helmet short-circuiting. “ _Traitor_.”

“Rose, you need to get to the converters. I’ll hold them off.” Cyro warned, keeping the trooper pinned beneath him. “Tell them I sent you. Their names are Neda and Gar.”

“I’m not going to leave you behind.” Rose insisted. 

“How sweet.” The Stormtrooper mocked. 

“Shut it.” Cyro snapped, aiming the blaster at his head. He looked back towards Rose. “Go!”

Rose hesitated, taking a few steps backward as she heard the sound of Stormtroopers hastening down the corridor in response to the alarm. “We’ll come back for you.” She promised, before she and Chewie started off down the corridor. She recalled what Cyro had told her — the power converters were housed one level down, accessible only by a ladder. 

“This way.” She told Chewbacca as they rounded another corridor that ended in a dead-end. At the end of the hall was a hatch that led downwards. She pulled it open and clambered down the ladder into the converter room. 

“Hands up!” Ordered one of the two Stormtroopers that had their blasters aimed on her. Her stomach twisted itself into knots — doubt creeping in. What if Cyro had been wrong? What if other troopers were on duty today?

Rose slowly held her hands up, giving Chewie a look to follow suit. “ _Easy_.” She cautioned as she looked between the two Stormtroopers. “Cyro sent us.” 

The troopers exchanged a helmeted look. “Where is he?”

“Giving us time to kill the power converters.” Rose remarked, glancing up the ladder at the increasing sound of blaster fire above. It didn’t sound good. It didn’t sound good at all. “Which one of you is Neda?”

The one to Rose’s left lowered their weapon, “I’m Neda.” She answered, holstering her blaster. 

“Gar.” The other remarked as he too holstered his blaster. 

“Is it true?” Neda questioned, her modulated voice sounded thick with emotion. She wasn’t used to hearing Stormtroopers sound so… _human_. Not like this. “That there are others defecting?”

“Yes!” Rose nodded her head, a smile spreading across her face as pride blossomed in her chest. “My friend Finn is part of the movement. All across the galaxy, people like the both of you are waking up. But none of it will matter if we don’t get off this ship.”

“What do you need from us?” Gar questioned Rose. 

“The circuit panel.” She answered and Neda gestured towards a panel across the room from them. Rose started forward, kneeling down to examine the durasteel plate. It was fused shut with an access key. “Do you happen to have the key?”

Neda shook her head. “That’s well above our rank.”

Rose’s brows knit together as she looked around the room for something to improvise with. Nothing seemed to be the answer, except for… 

“Gar, shoot this.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” He questioned and Rose narrowed her eyes at him. “ _Alright_.” Gar drew his blaster and aimed for the shot. Somehow, he managed to miss the mark by a few good feet. 

Rose tried hard to repress a snort of laughter — Stormtroopers really were _terrible_ shots. “Here.” She held out her hand as Neda passed her blaster to Rose. She aimed it and shot the hinge off the panel. 

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Neda quipped to Gar. Even from behind the mask, Rose could read the smugness there. 

Rise turned her attention back to the smoldering durasteel, prying it open and tossing the scrap metal aside as she revealed the wiring within. “ _Shit_.” Rose whispered as she stared at the tangled mass of wiring. One wrong wire and she could send the converters into a meltdown, taking all of them down with her mistake. 

“Problem?” Gar questioned.

“No, no. Just…” Rose’s brows furrowed as she curled her fingers around a black wire. “It’s been awhile since I did this.” Was it the black wire? Her gut was telling her that was right. 

Chewie growled as the sound of blaster fire from above seemed to be quickly approaching the hatch. 

_White_!

“I’m trying!” Rose gritted out as she let go of the black wire and grabbed the white one instead. She twisted the wires out of the wire nuts — there was a popping sounded across the room as the converters started shutting down. Without warning a new siren blared out across the _Retribution_ as the power converter room was engulfed in darkness. 

“One… two… three—“ Rose counted down, just as the generator lights switched on, casting the darkened room in a pale white light that flashed in time with the pulsing of the alarm. 

The blaster fire from above ceased and Rose cautiously approached the ladder. Silence was _never_ a good sign. She lifted her gaze, peering up through the opening above. Through the flickering light she could make out the shape of a fallen Stormtrooper’s arm draped across the opening of the hatch. “Cyro?” 

There was no response at first— the silence dragged on until a weak voice broke through, “All clear.” Rose let out a breath of relief that she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding in. She scrambled up the ladder, followed by Chewie, and the Stormtroopers. 

Her eyes strained in the darkness, the pulsing white light of the siren making it difficult to see. “Where are you?” She questioned, scanning the fallen troopers that were scattered on the floor. 

“Over here!” Neda gestured to Rose as she moved down the corridor. She leaned down and rolled a dead trooper off of Cyro. “Are you injured?” 

“Only my pride,” He quipped with a strained laugh that made Rose seriously question whether it was _just_ his pride that had been injured. A streak of crimson blood stood out against the white of his armor just below the seam where his helmet met the chest plate. She somehow didn’t think that it came from the trooper that had been atop of him. 

“Are you _sure_ you’re alright?” Rose pressed as she watched him waver as he was helped to his feet. 

“I’m fine.” He waved off her concern. “We need to get to the hangar bay.” Cyro braces himself against the wall, before he mustered the strength to start forward. 

Rose caught his arm, “You’re bleeding.”

Cyro sighed heavily and the sound crackled as it came through his modulator. He pulled his helmet off slowly. “It’s just a cut.”

Rose grimaced at the sight of blood against his tanned skin. The underside of his jaw had been slashed open, likely from being struck by a blaster. He was far more handsome than she’d expected him to be — a rugged sort of charm that had been concealed by the helmet. 

“The white just makes it look worse.” He assured her. “And I suppose I don’t need _this_ anymore.” Cyro held the helmet up, rotating it so he could stare into the visor. He dropped it to the ground with a resounding bang. 

“We have bacta on the _Falcon_.” Rose told him, before she pulled away, turning back to Neda and Gar. “Are you joining us?”

“We’re certainly _not_ staying here.” Neda retorted, removing her own helmet. She leaned down and picked up a blaster from one of the fallen Stormtroopers, passing it to Rose. “And you’re our ticket out of here.”

* * *

“Snap, I needed you out of here like thirty minutes ago.” Poe remarked, clapping his hand against the pilot’s shoulder as he brushed past him. “Get a move on. We have no idea what they’re planning.”

“You’re _right_ , we don’t know.” Snap countered and Poe stopped mid-stride to look back at him. “Just the truth, General.”

Poe crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Wexley. “And what _truth_ is that?” 

“With all due respect sir,” Snap began cautiously “I don’t feel good about sending a fleet clear across the galaxy. You’ve already lost two members of the Resistance, do you really want to lose more?”

“I haven’t lost _anyone_.” Poe snapped. If he hadn’t been named General, he would already be suited up and halfway to Bespin. “But every second you stand here arguing with me, is a second you could be spending getting Rose and Chewie off the First Order ship.” 

“We don’t know _anything_.” 

“We know enough.” 

Snap clenched his jaw, glaring at Poe. “All we know is that they got caught in a tractor beam. Who’s to say we won’t get pulled through an interdiction field and captured too?” 

Poe clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head. “If I were General Organa, you’d already have your ass in your ship.” 

“General Organa is _gone_ ,” Snap stepped towards Poe, squaring off with him. “Under suspicious circumstances.” 

“Is that what this is about?” He cocked his head to the side. “You’re going to stand here and question my authority at the price of their lives?” Poe shoved Snap backwards in a flare of anger. He took a step back, backing down. “We don’t have time for this, Snap. You can question my authority _after_ you get them back here safely.” 

“General!” Sache called out, interrupting whatever Snap had intended to say next. “We’ve got news!” 

“Coming!” Poe called out as he brushed past Snap, gesturing towards one of the tech crew members. “Toowers, get Snap cleared for take off ASAP.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Contrary to popular opinion, Poe _hated_ being at odds with people he considered friends. He was good at creating friction, he was well aware of that, but he hated it. But being a General wasn’t about making friends — it was about leading, which somehow always managed to cause conflict. In hindsight, he regretted how he’d acted out against Vice Admiral Holdo. Leading meant difficult decisions. 

“Sache, you better have good news for me.” Poe said as he climbed up the stairs to the communication station Sache was situated with. 

“There’s significant interference in the transmissions we’ve received from Finn’s team. I was able to clean it up for the most part, but we could really use Conn—” Sache abruptly stopped, giving Poe a wary look. “We’ve done our best, all things considered.”

“Yeah, I know. Connix did our best comm work.” Poe dragged his fingers through his hair. “What were you able to get out of it?”

“The first transmission was from Pava. That one was actually fairly clear. They were doubling back to the Bespin System, as requested.” Sache explained. “The second was from Finn.” She turned to look at him and the solemn expression on her face told him _everything_ he needed to know. “It didn’t sound good, General.”

Poe’s heart clenched. “What _did_ it sound like?”

“It’s likely the First Order is disrupting communications in that sector. From what I could make out — it sounded like one of the defectors had taken them prisoner.”

“ _What_ ?” Poe’s voice cracked. “How can _one_ defector take them all down?” He was already jumping to worst-scenarios. 

“I don’t know.” Sache offered with a grimace. “Given the audio quality, we’re likely not going to know what the full transmission said. “But I do find it interesting that Finn was able to make a transmission if they had, in fact, been taken prisoner.” 

“ _Yeah_.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. She was right — that was a good sign. Maybe they’d misunderstood the transmission. 

Not to mention, Poe knew that Finn could hold his own on a First Order vessel. He had regaled them all with the tales about his misadventure on the _Supremacy_. If it was a worst-case scenario, he could manage. “Good work, Sache.” 

“Thanks, Po— _er_ , General Dameron.” 

“Poe’s fine.” He assured her, “At ease, Sache.” He gave her a short nod before he headed down the stairs, headed for Leia’s quarters — _his_ quarters. 

BB-8 beeped curiously, rolling after him. 

“Yeah, I’m alright BB.” Poe knelt down and patted the droid. “Thanks buddy.”

The droid rolled back and forth, before bumping into his leg. Poe laughed quietly, adjusting the BB unit’s antenna. 

“I am _not_ sulking.” 

The droid seemed highly skeptical of that statement, letting out a whirring little series of beeps. 

Poe dug his teeth into his bottom lip, “I just wish I could hop in my ship and head out. I know I’ve got to lead, but I don’t like sitting idle.” BB-8 bumped against his leg affectionately. “I _would_ appreciate the company, buddy.” 

* * *

“FL-6819 you were reported by your commanding officer for desertion from your post on Ryloth. State your business.” 

Dash nervously looked towards Finn, who silently encouraged him to continue. They’d rehearsed everything he planned to say. Between Jannah and Finn, they’d crafted a fairly convincing story that they hoped would be believed. 

He cleared his throat, “I have prisoners, sir. On Ryloth I encountered the traitor FN-2187 and a defector TZ-1719. I have apprehended them both. I apologize for abandoning my post, but I had to act quickly to apprehend them.” 

The commanding officer remained silent for _too_ long. Finn’s fingers curled into fists and his nails bit into the flesh of his palm. Anxiety twisted his stomach into knots and he felt a familiar fear creeping up his spine. 

His eyes flickered towards Jannah, who wore her own apprehensive expression, arms folded across her chest. 

“Bay 327 is open for the transfer. Prepare to be escorted for immediate reprogramming. Good work, FL-6819.” 

Dash ended the transmission, sinking back in the pilot’s seat. “I don’t want to be reprogrammed.” 

“You won’t be.” Finn reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “What they don’t know is that we’ve got the advantage.” 

“That trick of yours?” Dash questioned, looking back at him. “What if it goes wrong?”

Jannah shook her head. “It’s not going to go wrong. And — _if_ it does — we’ve got Tiege and the others waiting to run aggressive measures.”

“But it’s not going to go wrong.” Finn reassured Dash, “Just play it cool. You’ve got this.”

Dash gave a stiff nod as she focused on piloting the vessel into Bay 327. 

Finn inhaled a steadying breath as he picked up a pair of handcuffs and offered them to Jannah. “You ready for this?”

“No.” She narrowed her eyes. “This is quite possibly the most foolish thing I’ve ever done. I hope they’re worth it.”

“Oh, they are.” Finn countered, turning to offer her his hands behind his back. He looked out through the window, his heart beating a little faster as he took in the view. Rows of Stormtroopers waiting for the command to fire on the ship — should it prove to be a rouse. 

“You’ve got this, Dash.” Finn stated again, sensing the nerves that seemed to be rolling off the younger man. But there was something else too — a sort of stirring that made his senses flare. Something was coming, something was —

Just as Dash landed the ship in the hangar, sirens started blaring. “What the hell is that?”

“ _Shit_.” Finn breathed out, watching as the Stormtroopers lifted their weapons, posed and ready to fire on the cruiser. “We didn’t do that. What the hell is that?”

“There’s been a breach.” Dash answered, pointing out the window as a small unit of Stormtroopers went running out of the hangar. 

A button on the dash flashed and he hit it, answering the transmission. “Yes, sir?”

“Please remain onboard until permission to disembark is given.”

“Problems, sir?”

“Stay on board.” The transmission cut off abruptly.

“I think you might want to keep these off.” Jannah remarked as she sat the handcuffs aside, crowding in beside Finn as they watched out the window. 

Without warning the lights in the hangar bay suddenly shut off, engulfing the Stormtroopers and First Order officers into inky blackness. A second after the backup generators kicked in, though the light hardly improved the situation.

“What the hell is happening?” Jannah questioned. 

“Rose is happening.” Finn said with a swell of pride in his chest. There wasn’t a system that woman couldn’t wreak havoc on. “I have an idea.” He shooed Dash out of the pilot’s seat, grabbing ahold of the radio. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jannah hissed out, trying to snatch it from his hand. 

He flipped a switch, broadcasting his message through the speaker connection on the hull of the cruiser. “This is FN-2187, the defector you’ve all heard so much about.” Unsurprisingly, the Stormtroopers in the hangar were quick to aim their blasters at the ship. 

“You don’t want to do that.” Finn said smoothly. He had no idea if his little _trick_ could work like this. “In fact, you don’t want to do anything that you don’t _want_ to do.”

They watched as several First Order officers rushed towards the Stormtroopers, shouting words they couldn’t hear through the window. 

“You _can_ stand down.” Finn urged. “You can lay your helmet down and pick up a new life.”

A few Stormtroopers stayed rooted in one spot, while others started towards their ship — firing at will. 

“Finn, it’s not working!” Dash panicked, pulling up the information to monitor how much damage the ship had sustained. 

“We were all stolen from the lives we were meant to lead. From families who loved us. Who wanted us. Turned into nameless, faceless, minions for the First Order. For monsters who don’t care if you live or die.”

“Give me that,” Jannah said, reaching out and snatching the radio from him. 

“Do you understand what we’ve risked coming here today? We were free. The three of us. But because two people that Finn — not FN-2187 — cares about we’re captured by the First Order… we’re risking our necks. More than the First Order would ever do for any of you.” Jannah looked towards Finn with a smile. “Because that’s the sort of foolish bravery that comes with being free to love and care for your friends and family.”

The red flashes from the blasters ceased in the darkness. A few shouts from First Order officers could be heard. In the pale white light of the pulsing generator beacon, a few streaks of red flashed. Finn braced himself — ready for an onslaught of fire against the ship once more, but it never came.

“Look!” Dash shouted, leaning forward to see out the window better. The Stormtroopers had turned on the First Order officers. 

“It’s working.” Finn breathed out, turning to grab and hug Jannah, lifting her up off the floor. “It worked!”

The three of them watched in breathless wonder as an uprising spread like wildfire through the hangar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And because I love providing visuals here's how I picture [Exeogol](https://66.media.tumblr.com/e378e36bd2c1660b037463164db16aef/65412adf4de978c3-11/s400x600/ea5215deef6151186736cbdd0ca945c295978f95.jpg). And here are my fancasts for [Gar](https://66.media.tumblr.com/855f381c853aa825d20712bd4045d8d3/65412adf4de978c3-5e/s400x600/80d1b4d8aa7faa081c87f0ac10d3a10b820030d2.jpg) & [Neda](https://66.media.tumblr.com/aeddd3a6da70e4b534d81195c611fb8f/65412adf4de978c3-70/s400x600/6f432dcc1cbc2812a5710d495149aee9de60266a.jpg).


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One. More. Chapter. Can you believe we've finally reached the penultimate chapter of this story? I can't. Bringing this story to an end has been heartwrenching for me because I've grown to love this little universe I've created with these characters we all love. Thank you to everyone who has read along the way. 
> 
> Chapter 17, the final chapter, will be posted Saturday with an epilogue posted likely next Wednesday.

Rey kept close beside Ben as they moved further into the depths of the Citadel. She hadn’t been able to shake the ominous foreboding sensation since the darkness had slipped its tendrils into her mind when they’d walked through the hall of Sith Lords. It had been a truly unsettling encounter. One moment her mind had been clear, then within a single breath she had suddenly felt an overbearing sense of paranoia. She could hear whispers in the darkness — whispers that promised her great power, whispers that told her Ben would betray, whispers of embracing her true nature. 

He’d snapped her out of it, but something still tickled at the back of her mind. 

“You’re quiet.” Ben remarked, turning to look at her with an arched brow. “Something on your mind?”

“Aside from worrying about impending doom?” Rey short back, rolling her eyes. “ _No_.” She readjusted the satchel over her shoulder, giving him a sideways look. 

“Temptation is natural, Rey.” Ben tried to reassure her, but the words just washed over her like the burden of an ocean’s waves. She’d been entranced by the sea that swelled around Ahch-To. Fascinated by the way an offering to the sea could be swept out far beyond any man’s reaches. Sometimes she felt like a tattered piece of cloth, caught up in a turbulent wave and lost at sea. It didn’t help that the darkness was a weight tied to her leg, dragging her down into the depths of the ocean. 

“ _Rey_ —“ Ben squeezed her hand tightly. “What is it?”

“You saw an island.” Rey pulled her hand out of his grasp, turning to stare at him. “When you looked into my mind, you saw a place I had never seen before. Not yet, at least. It was Ahch-To — wasn’t it?”

Ben’s brows drew together as he stared at her. “It was. Something you likely saw in a vision that you considered a dream.”

“Can the Temple be restored?”

He went rigid, “There are _no_ Jedi.” 

“But—“

“Let them stay dead, Rey. The Jedi have no place in this world.” His fingers curled into fists at his side and Rey frowned. Evidently, his uncle’s betrayal was still an unhealed wound. 

“It doesn’t have to be the Jedi — it can be a _new_ order.” Rey’s voice tinged with hope. There was something warm in her chest that seemed to combat the coolness of the darkness in her mind — something that radiated hotter as she envisioned a future. The two of them. 

_The belonging you seek is not behind you, it’s ahead._

Ben stood before her, hand outstretched. She had been her before — a hundred times this moment had played out in her mind. Dreams, visions. Twisted versions of a future she had thought she’d conjured up in her mind. 

She had chosen him. 

Unwittingly at the beginning. 

Unwillingly at the middle. 

Unashamedly at the end. 

“At long last—“ A voice whispered from the darkness as Rey reached out and took Ben’s hand. 

Ben drew her close to his side, both of them looking around the void that surrounded them. “Show yourself.” He gritted out. 

“I am everywhere—“ The voice seemed to draw near to them. 

A loud crack of lightning exploded beyond the Citadel and the thunder shook the very ground they stood upon.

“— and nowhere.”

A rush of frigid air swept between them nearly forcing them apart. 

“We’re going to defeat you.” Rey said defiantly. 

“ _Are_ you?” The voice mocked, echoing both near and far from them. “Your optimism will be all the _sweeter_ to destroy.” 

Above them another clap of _unnatural_ thunder shook the vaulted ceiling above, causing rubble to crash down around them. Ben pulled her into his side, shielding her with his body — and with the Force. The rubble that had nearly collided with them hovered around them, suspended in the air. 

“How thoughtful, young Solo. Protecting her.” Mocked the phantom voice. The air swelled around them, chilling them to the bone. “Snoke was wise — wasn’t he? The way he framed this pathetic _scavenger_ as someone off limits to you. A true temptation.”

Rey tilted her head to look at Ben, her pounding in her chest as she took in his expression. There was so much anger there — so much pain. 

“Because you were _weak_. Just like your grandfather. Even your mother…” The voice chuckled menacingly. “ _Love_. A pathetic emotion that has ruined the Skywalker line.”

Lightning lit up the darkened antechamber — casting everything in a sickeningly eerie blue. The darkness seemed to take on its own agency, twisting and encroaching on them. 

“Your coming together was predestined.” 

“ _Ben_.” Rey breathed out as she felt the tug of the shadows crawling up her legs. 

“Don’t let go.” He urged, fingers gripping at her hand tight enough to bruise. 

Rey could feel something behind her, like breath creeping across the back of her neck. “A _dyad_ in the Force. Infinite power.” The voice growled close to her ear. 

“The relics were a ruse. A clever distraction. Drawing you to me.” The floor shook beneath them violently as the voice spoke. “Drawing you _to_ me.” 

Rey shouted out as she felt a sudden pull that started at her belly button, a sensation that felt like she’d been caught by a hook right beneath her ribs. She stumbled forward against her will — pulled by an invisible force. The motion caused her to nearly let go of Ben’s hand, but his grip was unrelenting. 

“How _impressive_.” Darth Sidious’ voice seemed far too close to them, close enough that Rey flinched away. “Your strength is unparalleled. And yet… still not enough.” 

The unseen presence forced them apart. Rey was shoved backwards, pain slicing through her as the back of her head collided against the stone ground beneath her. Ben was sent forwards somewhere into the thick darkness that swelled around them. The ground shook — a terrible rumbling that started somewhere deep beneath the Citadel. The tremors grew stronger, rubble falling from above as the ground began to split open. 

Rey scrambled to her feet and ignited her lightsaber — the emerald glow illuminating the darkness around. “Ben!” She called out over the sound of stone shattering beneath her feet, eyes straining in the darkness. 

A flash of blue lit up across the growing cavern between them. “Rey!” Ben shouted out. “Stay where you are!” He warned her and she felt the faint brush of his mind against her own. Distance had never hindered their bond before. 

“A lonely little girl.”

Rey spun around, sweeping her blade through the empty air surrounding her. The voice was undeterred, a ghost of a whisper close to her ear. “You’ve come so far Rey—” She spun again, slashing through the darkness. “But you’re still trying to fill that void. So you’ll forget to add a new mark to the wall of lonely days.” 

“You don’t scare me.” She hissed, charging forward towards the voice only to be met with empty air. 

“You’ve looked for your parents in every pair of eyes of you met. Han Solo. Luke Skywalker. Leia Organa.” A chill ran down her spine as the voice enveloped her, tendrils of darkness slipping around her limbs — pinning her in place so she couldn’t escape it. A twisted phantom of a face appeared before her. A face that was one of only _evil_. 

“You were desperate to find a parent’s love in them. Weren’t you, Rey?” Darth Sidious mocked her. “What a shame that _he_ struck each one of them down. Robbing you of that family you so desired.” 

“You’re not going to turn me against him.” Rey warned him, fighting with every fiber of strength she possessed, but still it wasn’t strong enough to wrench herself from his grip. 

“But perhaps,” Sidious grinned wickedly. “I can turn him against _you_.” 

She hated how quickly doubt fell over her. How quickly she turned her head enough to look across the chasm to where the blue light of his lightsaber was visible. She knew better than to doubt him. Even after _everything,_ there was a thread of trust strung between them. But she knew where his mind was — she knew that he’d been willing to do this alone. To sacrifice himself for the greater good. A load of bantha shit, that’s what that was. 

Somewhere deep down she would always be that little girl who had been abandoned and left for scrappers. But she’d grown up. The Resistance had brought her a sense of stability. Her friends had become a refuge, the cause a source of purpose, and Ben… Ben had been an unexpected lightning rod. 

Rey let out a bitter laugh, glaring into the dark holes that served as Darth Sidious’ eyes. “You’re _nothing_. Weren’t you once a great Sith Lord? And now what are you? So afraid of two Force users that you’d split the earth open to keep us apart? Are you afraid of us?” She twisted her wrists, desperate to free herself from the darkness’ hold. “A truly tragic end — defeated by the very balance you sought to destroy.” 

Something sparked within her. A hot current of defiance that wasn’t just her own. Rey wrenched her left arm out of Darth Sidious’ grip, using her limited range of mobility with her right to toss her lightsaber up in the air and catch it with her left. She swept the emerald blade through the darkness and this time she connected with something. 

Lightning streaked across the sky above them, illuminating the broken room in light. Enough to see that the room was no longer split open. There was no chasm between them. But Ben stood a hundred odd feet away from her standing over the corpse of a dead Sith cultist — the same as the one that laid dead at her own feet. 

“We have to—” They both started as they met one another’s gaze. 

Ben moved towards her, finishing the sentence they’d begun. “— get to the top of the Citadel.” 

Rey’s brows rose upwards in surprise. “Is that where we have to go?” She questioned, impressed that he’d already formed a plan. All she’d intended to say was that they had to stop Darth Sidious. 

Ben glanced around them warily, before his gaze settled on her once more. “Did you get hurt?”

“No.” She shook her head slowly. “Did you?”

Ben’s hand ghosted down the back of her arm, sliding down to squeeze her hand briefly. “No. I don’t think that was his plan.” 

“How did he do that?” Rey questioned as she looked towards the creature she’d slain. “How did we both fight him and yet…” 

“I don’t know.” Ben admitted quietly. 

Rey nudged him teasingly. “We’ve stumped the master?”

“I’m no _master_.” He retorted with an edge to his voice that made Rey recoil slightly. “Do you still have it?” Ben questioned. “The mask.” 

“I do.” Rey tapped the bag that sat against her hip. “But didn’t he say it was all a ruse?” 

Ben sighed heavily. “I think the other relics _were_ a ruse, but that… my grandfather’s mask is the answer to this.” Lightning streaked across the sky above them once more as he turned to look at her. “That mask contains _his_ essence. If we destroy that, we destroy their chances of resurrecting him.”

“Then let’s go destroy him once and for all.” 

* * *

Rose glanced warily at Cyro as they walked through the busted open door that led into the observatory deck above the docking bay. Their plan had been to overpower the First Order officers that manned the observatory — but someone had gotten to them first. Her nose wrinkled at the stench of burnt flesh where a blaster had ripped through the stomach of the officer she had to step over to get further into the room. “What the hell happened here?” She questioned. 

“I think _that_ is what happened.” Cyro remarked, gesturing through the glass. Beyond the window, the dimly lit docking was brought to life by haphazard flashes of red blaster fire. 

Neda moves across the room to the command panel, “Let’s see if this sheds a little light.” She quipped as she flicked a switch to turn on the radio systems. It took a moment of grainy white noise before the voices of frantic Stormtroopers across _the Retribution_ began filtering through. 

Revolt. Uprising. Freedom. Death. Words that seemed to repeat through each message. Something had sparked a violent and drastic change throughout the Stormtroopers. They’d turned on one another — the First Order officers were now at the mercy of the Stormtroopers. 

“It would seem,” Gar started as he scanned through another one of the monitors. “The last ship to dock was that one of there—“ He pointed out the window at the vessel at the center of the fighting. “A Stormtrooper had captured two defectors.”

Her head snapped to the left to stare at Gar. “Wait. _Who_?” 

“FN-21–“

“Finn!” Rose clapped her hands together and moved towards Neda. “Can you patch us through to a vessel-wide broadcast?”

“Who’s Finn?” Cyro questioned.

“Give me a second.” Neda requested as she keyed in several codes into the panel to patch them through. 

“The friend I told you about. The one that had been a Stormtrooper.”

Cyro arched a brow and Rose didn’t have enough time to process the curious look he wore. Something seemed to lurk there in his dark gaze. 

“We’re in.” Neda told Rose. 

She stepped forward and pressed down on the broadcast button, the little button glowing red to signal that it was _on_. Rose drew in a shaky breath, before she found the words to say. “The _Retribution_ has fallen into the hands of the Resistance. Lay down your weapons and accept defeat. The Stormtroopers will no longer be your soldiers.”

Gar cleared his throat as he gestured to a flashing yellow light on the dashboard. Rose switched off the broadcast and hit the yellow button. 

“Rose?” Finn’s voice cut through the white noise of the radio channel. “Rose is that you?”

“Looks like we were both staging an uprising.” Rose grinned. “I’m so glad to hear your voice.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Finn pressed. 

Rose looked towards Cyro. His arms were crossed firmly across his chest and the frown he wore as he watched the blaster-fueled brawl play out in the docking bay told her everything she needed to know. “We’re not leaving until every Stormtrooper is free.”

“ _We_? Is Chewie with you?”

“We’re both here, but we’ve made some new friends.” She glanced sideways at Cyro, a faint smile playing over her lips. 

Finn chuckled. “Looking at all of these defectors it looks like we’ve made a _lot_ of new friends.”

“We can’t leave them behind.” 

He sighed heavily, “We don’t have the resources to get everyone off—“

“Then we take the ship.” Cyro said firmly, cutting Finn off. 

“Who’s that?”

“Cyro. He saved Chewie and me.” Rose explained, arching a brow at the man beside her. “Is that even possible?”

“We’ll have to get to the bridge.” He answered, looking towards Rose then. “The First Order officers are woefully unprepared for combat. They won’t be able to stand up against Stormtroopers.”

She nodded her head slowly as she considered his suggestion. “Did you hear that, Finn?”

“Loud and clear.” He retorted. “Let me see if I can _inspire_ the Stormtroopers here to follow suit.”

* * *

“Sache, talk to me. Have we got any updates from Snap and the squadron?” Poe questioned as he climbed the stairs up to her station. 

Sache glanced up from her working, quickly picking up a second datapad and passing it towards the General. “Last check-in was approximately an hour ago. They’d entered into the hyperlane and were estimating their arrival within the next hour.” 

“Good. _Good_.” Poe muttered, mostly to himself, as he reviewed the write up she’d prepared for him. It was simple, concise, and provided more than enough details. 

“Sir,” Sache started, waiting until she had his attention before she started to speak. “We received a transmission from one of Jannah’s men.” 

Poe slowly lowered the datapad, his brows drawn together with concern. “Any word of Finn… Finn’s team?” 

“Well,” Sache leaned forward to adjust the communications panel, flipping a switch to play the audio aloud for him.

“This is Tiege from the TZ unit.” The voice stated calmly as the audio fluctuate out, obscuring his words momentarily. “—and Finn have been escorted onto the _Retribution_ by Dash.” Being ‘escorted’ certainly didn’t sound as dire as the previous transmission had been. “Once finished, we hope to continue the mission. Tiege over and out.”

Poe’s brows furrowed together and he sighed the tiniest breath of relief. “That doesn’t sound nearly as bad as the message you transcribed. Does it?”

Sache shook her head, casting her gaze downwards. “I worry that sending the fleet out may have been presumptuous.” 

Poe sat his datapad down on the desk. “Regardless of what’s happening — I’m sure they need backup.”

“Do you want me to bury this?”

“ _What_?”

Sache’s cheeks flushed pink. “I didn’t think you’d want this going into the daily reports.” She said quietly. “In case someone were to question your motives.”

“No.” Poe’s frown deepened and he shook his head. “I don’t plan on leading that way.” The thought of hiding information in an effort to make himself look better made his stomach twist with disgust. “Are you insinuating that Leia buried information?”

“ _Never_.” Sache said quickly, holding up her hands in mock defense. “I just assumed you’d want to consider it. In case you haven’t noticed — things are a little strained around here.”

Poe raked his fingers through his hair before dragging his hand down his face. “I wouldn’t be my parents’ son if I chose an easy out. We jumped to conclusions and I acted accordingly.” He gestured to the radio. “And _that_ didn’t give us much more to work with.” Except it sounded like Finn had a plan — which was a relief.

“Then it’ll go into my report.” Sache said, folding her arms across her chest. “Expect fall out.”

“I always am.” He shook his head solemnly. “But I’m not hiding anything. That’s not how you lead.”

“General Dameron!” C-3PO called out as clambered up the stairs to where he was. “General Dameron!”

“What is it Threepio?”

“R2D2 and I believe we have located Miss Connix.”

Poe crossed his arms across his chest, “Where?”

“I detected a theft of supplies early this morning. Which was quite alarming—“

“Cut to the point.”

“Oh, alright!” Threepio threw his arms up into the air. “Miss Connix is believed to be hiding in the abandoned freight containers near the coast.”

“Thanks, Threepio.” Poe said with a slight edge to his voice. He had no idea how he was expected to handle to the Connix situation. Everyone adored her and he couldn’t even blame her for lashing out against Kylo — _Ben_. But she’d jeopardized everything by acting on her own volition. What if she’d missed and hit Rey or Finn?

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.” Sache remarked as she glanced up from her datapad. 

Poe couldn’t help the short chuckle that escaped him. If it wasn’t one crisis, it was another. And he hadn’t even considered a plan of action if Rey failed. The First Order had a fleet of vessels that could decimate the Resistance with the press of a single button. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, we've reached the end. 
> 
> I cannot fully express just how thankful I am to those of you that have loyally read and reviewed this story. I'm forever thankful for my nametwin Maggie, who has read every chapter as I've written them and of course, Nicole who has been my constant cheerleader! To each and every one of you reading this right now... thank you. 
> 
> I'm not big on trigger warnings in fiction because I hate spoiling story points, but I would like to advise you that there is character death, suicide, and a non-graphic depiction of an amputation.

Chaos. Unfettered chaos had broken out across the _Retribution_. Anger boiled hotly in his veins as he watched the security cameras — witnessing the uprising of his unloyal Stormtroopers as they turned against their masters. 

Hux slammed his fist down violently against the control panel, sparks flying as he damaged some of the buttons. He couldn’t survive another blunder like this. It was bad enough that Kylo Ren had absconded with the relics, costing him a vital ally. But now — now his own soldiers had turned against him. 

“Prepare an escape pod.” Hux barked out as he turned to face the remaining officers that stood with him on the bridge. “I’m returning to the _Finalizer_.” 

“Sir.” One of the officers began hesitantly. “The _Finalizer_ has fallen as well.” 

“ _What_?” He snarled, fingers curled into fists at his sides. “How is that possible?”

“We weren’t able to cut communications in time. The message has been broadcast across First Order vessels.”

How had it come to this? How had everything crumbled around him? He should’ve had the power, the glory… It was all Kylo Ren’s fault. His failures had led to this. Hux had taken on a broken, ruined, fractured First Order. It wasn’t _his_ fault it had failed. But the Stormtroopers had been his own pet project. He had been the one to oversee the project. That failure was his own. And that set uneasily within him. 

Hux clenched his teeth together harshly as he turned to stare at the security footage. “The prisoners did this.” He said flatly. He spotted the _girl_ running down a corridor that led towards the bridge, the giant furbag and Stormtroopers following her. 

“We believe so.” The officer answered, clearing his throat. “With assistance.”

Hux glared at the officer, taking pleasure from the way he cowered in response. “Some of our own, it would seem.” 

The officer nodded his head slowly. “Yes, sir.” 

“I want this stopped. At all costs.” Hux threatened, skulking forward, crowding into the officer’s personal space. “Prepare my escape pod. I will be leaving once I handle something.” He snarled, shoving past the pathetic man. Since no one else seemed capable of killing them, he’d handle it himself. Even if they failed to salvage their vessels at least their deaths at his hand would bring him satisfaction. 

* * *

The end was drawing near. With each step they took up the unending staircase to the top of the Citadel he grew ever more aware of the finality of it all. If he was correct about his grandfather’s mask — if it _truly_ was the answer for defeating Darth Sidious once and for all — there would be an after. 

He hadn’t planned for an after. 

Afters were what heroes got for their trouble. Afters were the stories about his uncle that he’d been raised on. Afters didn’t exist for people like him. Maybe once upon a time it could’ve been possible, but it felt as though it had been too little too late. 

The idea of an _after_ was a daunting thing. What was there for him, outside of Rey? His father was gone. His mother was gone. His uncle was gone. Rey’s idea of founding some new variation of the Jedi Order seemed mostly palpable to him. An order grounded in the duality of the Force — an order that could truly protect someone like himself. To prevent future generations of Force users from falling into the belief that any one person was solely bad or solely good. To keep the future from ever feeling like they weren’t _enough_. 

But after everything he had done — after everything he had been culpable in — did he deserve a second chance? 

Ben’s gaze flickered towards Rey. He wanted an after with her. He wanted whatever after she had in her mind’s eye. Whatever her unwavering faith and hope had conjured for them. He wanted the future she saw. The one where he turned, where she took his hand, where they both learned what _happiness_ felt like. 

Darth Sidious had known about that desire and he had tried to corrupt it. 

_She’s using you boy, just as everyone has used you. You are simply a means to an end. She’ll leave you too. You’ll never be good enough for her. Can’t you see that?_

Ben hadn’t fallen prey to that. After decades of living with voices in his head, darkness trying to twist and corrupt every good thing in his life — he knew better. It wasn’t simply a matter of being _good enough_ for Rey. Rey had made a choice. Just as he had. He could live every day moving forward atoning for his crimes, but it wouldn’t have any bearing on the choices they had made. 

Rey paused just shy of the final step. She turned and looked down at him. “What if this doesn’t work?”

Ben tried to play off the flicker of doubt he felt with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder. “It’ll work.” It _had_ to work, because he had no alternative plan. He had planned to do it all alone — to risk his life in order to defeat Darth Sidious. But that wasn’t an option. They were bound together by the Force, they had to do this _together_. 

Her lips curved into a strained smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “But what if it _doesn’t_?”

“What was that you said?” Ben questioned, reaching out to gingerly curling his fingers around her hand. “About fighting with love?” It had been such a blindly optimistic concept. “Don’t lose sight of that.”

Rey looked down to where their hands were joined. “I haven’t.” She whispered as they headed up the last step together. 

Ben guided them through a small door that led them out onto the top of the Citadel’s dome. The storm hadn’t relented since they had arrived on Exegol — rain came down in torrents, soaking them to the bone once more. A crack of lightning streaked across the sky above them, setting the top of the dome alight with the sickening blue light. 

“What do we do?” Rey raised her voice so he could hear her through the sound of the rain pelting down against the metal roof of the dome. 

He gestured upwards to the top of the dome, where a metal spike jutted upwards towards the sky. “We’ll place the mask there and then draw the lightning to it.” Ben explained to her as he released his hold on her hand. 

They climbed up the side of the peak, the rain making the task all the more daunting. He lost his footing for a moment, sliding down the side of the peak. Rey looked back at him questioningly — and he gave a short nod to urge her to continue. 

Rey pulled Darth Vader’s mask out of her satchel, reaching up to place it atop the metal spike. Lightning flashed above them ominous, a short streak dancing across the dark sky. The thunderclap came seconds after, shaking the dome enough to cause Rey to lose her footing just as Ben gained his own. He grabbed at her ankle to steady her.

“We have to use the Force, Rey!” Ben called out, blinking as the rain washed over his face as it sloughed off the roof. Somehow, the storm seemed to have gained strength. The wind swelled around them, with force enough to pry their hold off the building. He was no fool — Darth Sidious would not go without a fight. 

Ben reached out a hand, trying to use the Force to pull the next strike of lightning towards the spike, but he lost his footing. He slid down the side of the roof, gracelessly falling onto the stone gallery below. He grimaced at the pain he felt — the dull throb at the back of his head where he’d slammed into the stone. He was no stranger to pain. Pain, he could work with. 

Slowly he peeled himself up off the ground, looking towards Rey as she slid down from the roof and landed on her feet with far more grace than he had. “Are you alright?” She questioned, brows drawn together with concern. 

Ben touched the back of his head, frowning as he pulled it away and caught sight of crimson blood staining his fingers. The rain was quick to wash it away and he masked the grimace behind false bravado. “I’m fine.” He lied, looking up towards the mask. “We have to pull the lightning down.”

“How is that even possible?” 

“The Force.” He reminded her. Ben raised his hands above his head, fingers straining with effort as he tried to draw the lightning downwards. He could feel a resistance, something drawing the lightning just out of reach. Rey mirrored him, hands lifted as she tried the same. A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder shook the dome, the stone floor shuddering beneath their feet. 

“It’s not working.” Rey gritted out, feet planted firmly on the ground as her arm muscles strained with her effort.

Ben pulled harder, using the pain of his head injury — the dull throbbing that came in time with his pulse — to strengthen himself. Pain was a familiar friend, something he’d pulled from for years to fuel himself. The touch of the Dark side that he needed to succeed. 

_You could’ve finished what your grandfather began. An empire. Unlimited control._

The voice seemed to crawl up his spine. 

“It was never about power.” Ben muttered. 

“ _What_?” Rey questioned, her head jerking to stare at him. “Ben—“

“It’s Sidious.” He snapped, jaw clenched.

“I hear him too.” She told him and he turned to look at her. “We’re so close. He knows we are.” Rey dropped her arm, shoulders pitched forward. “But it’s not enough.”

Ben let out a frustrated sound as he dragged his hand over his face, “You’re _right_.” They need more. Anger and pain weren’t enough.

Rey lifted her gaze to stare at the mask, the rain trailing down her cheeks as it continued to pour down on them. “We have to do it together.”

“We were—“

“No, _together_.” Rey reached out and took his hand into hers, lifting them towards the sky. 

Ben closed his eyes and focused on the power as it flowed through them. The Force — pure in its entirety. This was the power he’d sought after his entire life. Not the power that came from him alone, but the power that came from the both of them _together_. A connection to something larger than himself. 

The power surged through their palms as the lightning was torn out of the sky, drawn towards the mask. He tried to open his eyes to witness the moment, but it was too bright. He clenched his eyes closed, turning his face away from the sparking mass of blue lightning. 

He could feel it. Something shifting within the fabric of the Force. Centuries upon centuries of power flowing through them. Not just their own. Centuries of Jedi — centuries of Sith. Brought together by the grandson of the Chosen One and the daughter of no one. Balance. Behind them stood those that had fallen in order to bring them to this moment… before them stood a vast unknown that they could form together. 

It was all he had ever wanted — to feel connected and part of something. Snoke and Darth Sidious had worked throughout his entire life to cut him off from everything and everyone. To convince him that he was all alone. Unwanted. But behind him stood generations of Jedi and Sith that were all connected by the Force. 

Darth Vader’s mask shattered in a dazzling scene of blue sparks and smoldering flames. A twisted scream sounded out through the heavens, entwined with a deafening clap of thunder. The Citadel shook, the floor beneath their feet began to shatter apart as the stone crumbled. 

“We have to go!” Rey shouted, fingers curled tightly around his hand as they started towards the doorway that led to the stairwell. But their path was barred as the stone archway caved inwards on itself. 

Ben drew in a ragged breath as he looked over the edge of the dome. They wouldn’t survive the collapse. If the stone didn’t crush them, the drop would certainly end them.

But he was gone. Darth Sidious was defeated. Gone in a flicker. It hadn’t been in vain. 

“Rey,” Ben started, turning towards her. The sobering truth slipped past his lips, “There’s no way down.”

Rey’s eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him. “This is the end?” He nodded his head solemnly and she looked away, staring out over the barren wasteland of Exegol as rain continued to pelt down on them. “At least we’re not alone.” 

“No. No, we’re not.” Ben said quietly as she drew him towards him, his arms curled around her petite frame. He wanted to shield her from what came next. The pain, the fear, the _terror_ that came from standing on unsteady ground. He had known that he would die — but he hadn’t ever wanted that for her. Not even when they were at odds with one another. 

The ground swayed beneath their feet and Rey clung to him tighter. “ _Ben_.” 

“Shh.” He soothed as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. 

“ _No_. Let me say it.” Rey tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes focused on him even as the rain slid down her cheeks. “If we had had more time, I could’ve loved you.”

“I know.” Ben cupped her cheek gently, his thumb brushing over the rise of her cheekbone. He smiled softly, before he leaned down to kiss her. 

In another life they could’ve had it all. Another path. Another story. But the kiss was short-lived as the stone floor beneath them gave way. 

* * *

Rose was surprisingly calm for someone who had a blaster pressed against her temple. She was more concerned with how bruised her knees were going to be, given how harshly Hux had forced her to the ground. When she made it out of this she was going to request a full week off of her duties and Poe would _have_ to agree to it. 

“Let her go.” Cyro said with an eerily calm edge to his voice as he kept his own blaster pointed at Hux. 

Gar and Neda had made it ahead of them before Hux had cut them off. The furious panic in the redhead’s eyes told Rose that he _knew_ he had lost. His perfectly constructed world had come apart with surprising ease. 

“ _No._ ” Hux snarled, pressing the blaster harder against her temple. She could see his finger dancing on the trigger out of the corner of her eyes. “I should’ve done this myself. Instead of relying on pathetic Stormtroopers like _you_.”

Cyro’s eyes darted towards Rose, silently trying to reassure her that he’d get them out of this. “Then take out your anger on me. Rose _isn’t_ a Stormtrooper.”

“But she caused this. The Resistance did this. Ruined everything. All of my plans.” Hux repositioned the blaster against her temple. 

“Easy.” Cyro warned, slowly laying his own blaster down on the ground. “There was already an uprising. There were plans.” He told Hux, standing up back cautiously. “It has nothing to do with Rose.”

Rose started to reach behind her, cautious of drawing attention to herself. Hux seemed fixated on Cyro’s revelation. If she could just grab the baton behind her. 

“ _Why_? I gave you all the opportunity to become part of something. You were all worthless orphans. You would’ve died on meaningless planets. Amounting to nothing.”

“I had a family.” Cyro snapped, fingers curled into his fists just waiting to throw a punch. “You didn’t erase everything. Some of us know who we were. Dreams. Nightmares. The First Order killed our families. Destroyed our planets. We had names. No, we _have_ names.” 

Hux suddenly curled his fingers around Rose’s throat, the muzzle of the blaster pressed harshly against her temple. Rose tensed, fingers mere inches away from grabbing ahold of the baton. Her eyes looked to Cyro, desperate for another diversion. 

“Let her go, Hux. You know that she has nothing to do with your shortfallings. Everyone knows.” Cyro gave a faint mocking laugh. “All this time you thought the problem was Kylo Ren, didn’t you? Did you ever look in the mirror and—”

It was just enough of a distraction to allow Rose to grab the baton out of her back pocket. She acted quick, driving the baton into his ribs and igniting it. Hux convulsed as the electrical current went through him, dropping to his knees.

Cyro stepped forward and kicked the blaster out of Hux’s grasp. “— realize that _you_ were the problem.” 

“Let me.” Rose said quietly, reaching out to curl her fingers around Cyro’s forearm. She leaned down and picked up Cyro’s discarded blaster, testing the weight of it in her hand as she looked at Hux. 

Hux sniffled, wiping furiously at the tears he’d shed in response to being electrocuted. 

“It’s not fun, is it?” Rose gritted out. “Being on the other side of this abuse. And for _what_? A power trip?”

“None of you understand the pressure I was under.” Hux complained, looking up at her with false-desperation. There was nothing about his attempt for sympathy that seemed authentic to her. “You don’t know why I did what I did. Please don’t kill me.” 

Rose snorted. “That doesn’t work on us, Hux. We know you revel in this shit.” She glanced back at Cyro, “Your begging means _nothing_ to me. Did you ever listen to the children you stole… begging for their parents?” 

Hux’s attempt at sympathy vanished quickly, replaced with a smug, satisfied grin. “You’ll never win.” He mocked, resting back on his elbows with a short laugh. 

“We’ve already won.” Rose countered triumphantly. The First Order vessel had fallen into their control. With it, they had a chance to face down whatever threat lurked in the Unknown Regions. Hope had risen once more. 

She raised the blaster, finger curled around the trigger ready to pull it and end Hux’s reign of terror. But he was faster, Hux lurched forward, snatched up his abandoned blaster and turned it on himself. 

Cyro acted on reflex and grabbed Rose, pulling her out of the line of fire. But it wasn’t necessary. Hux slumped to the floor, dead by his own hand. Rose stared at his body, stomach-churning as she was faced with the sight of death once more. She prayed that a day wouldn’t come when death became familiar. It still horrified her. 

Rose turned towards Cyro, looking up at him with a small smile. “I didn’t want to have to be the one to kill him.” 

“I know.” Cyro gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “We should get to the bridge. I think we have somewhere to go.” 

She nodded her head, a small smile forming on her lips. Rose couldn’t wait to see Poe’s reaction when they turned up in Ajan Kloss with not one, but _two_ First Order Star Destroyers. 

* * *

She was alive. That realization came to her slowly. She had been convinced that she was dead, at first, because she could feel the sun warming her cheeks. It made her think of Jakku and all the times she’d found herself on her back after a nap, worn from a morning of scavenging, with the sun warming her skin — light dancing behind her eyelids. When she was young she had thought _that_ was what it would be like wherever you went after you died. 

But she wasn’t dead. 

Rey opened her eyes slowly, lashes fluttering as she stared up into a bright blue sky. A new dawn had come. Was she even on Exegol still? The sun was such a stark contrast to the torrential rain that has fallen under the cloak of a stormy night. 

She pressed her palms against the ground beneath her, fingers fanning out across the broken earth. But it wasn’t just barren land. Rey turned her head slowly and inhaled sharply when she spotted a spring of green sprouting up from the cracked soil. 

“ _Ben_?” Rey whispered, her voice wavering, as she sat up, her eyes scanning the rubble of the fallen Citadel. Somehow, she’d survived it unscathed. There was not a cut or a scrape on her skin. 

“Ben!” She called out as she rose to her feet. _Silence._ She scanned the rubble looking for him. They had been holding on to one another when the building had started to crumble — he should’ve fallen near her.

Her heart felt like it was in her throat, her pulse pounding in her ears. Where was he? He had to be there. The panic was clawing at her, making her feel like her skin was tightening and her throat was closing in on her. He had to be there. 

Rey clenched her eyes closed, looking inward at the string that was drawn between them — the connection that was theirs alone. It was still there and intact. Their bond persisted, which meant he had to be alive. 

“Ben!” She cried out as she moved forward, climbing over rubble as she searched for him. He had to be there. 

“Rey?” A weak call echoed back and she ran towards it. She climbed over a large piece of rubble that was blocking her path, sliding down the side of the ruined stone. 

Rey cupped her mouth and called out, “Where are you?” 

“Over here.” Ben answered, his voice still painfully quiet.

She stopped in her tracks as she spotted him. He hadn’t made it out unscathed like she had. His arm was trapped under a large piece of the Citadel that she believed had been part of the dome. Bloodstained the soil beneath him, darkening the pale ground.

“Oh stars.” She breathed out as she moved towards him, dropping to her knees beside him. “ _Ben_.”

Ben let out a labored sigh, a faint smirk playing over his lips as he looked up at her. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“I don’t know how we survived…” Rey offered, her eyes flickering from his face to his entrapped arm. “How attached to your arm are you?”

A sputtered laugh escaped him. “I was rather fond of it. But I don’t think it’ll be attached much longer.”

“Rotten time to get a sense of humor.” Rey retorted, narrowing her eyes at him. She sat back on her knees and stared at the juncture where the piece of metal and stone was pressed into his flesh. “I’m going to have to remove it.”

“I figured.” Ben said bitterly, turning his head away from her. “Just do it.”

Rey unwound the wrap from her forearm and used it as a tourniquet to stop the blood flow just above where his arm was ruined. They were fortunate to have lightsabers, which could cauterize a wound. She’d seen botched amputations on Jakku, when other scavengers had been injured. “When we get to Ajan Kloss, you’ll have to let the medical droid take a look at this.” 

“Who knew the Resistance had medical droids.” Ben countered with a hint of feigned amusement, his head still turned away from her and his injured arm. 

“We have _one_.” Rey pursed her lips as she tightened the tourniquet securely before she reached for her lightsaber. “I reprogrammed it with Threepio’s assistance.”

“And you expect me to trust _that_ droid?” Ben teased, chancing a look at her. “A droid once tried to kill me, you know.”

“I didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised.” Rey laughed a little. “This is going to hurt.”

“I can handle it.” He answered, sinking back against the ground and looking up at the blue skies above them. “Defeating him changed this place.”

“I even saw new life sprouting up.” She said quietly as she switched on one side of her lightsaber. Rey moved swiftly, sweeping the blade through his arm just below the tourniquet. It severed with sickening ease, the flesh burned closed neatly. 

Ben was quiet through it all. His Adam’s apple bobbed with his effort to swallow back his cry of pain. But face betrayed him, hot tears spilling down his cheeks despite the way he had them clenched closed. 

“I’m sorry. I’m _sorry_.” Rey said desperately as she dropped her lightsaber to the ground and leaned down to curl her fingers in the fabric of his shirt at his chest. She lifted a hand to gingerly cup his cheek, rubbing her thumb to wipe a tear away from his skin. 

“You did what you had to do Rey.” Ben murmured as he curled his good arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “We survived.” He whispered, his lips brushing against her temple. 

Rey clung to him tightly, her heart pounding so rapidly in her chest she wondered if he could hear it. They had survived — against all odds. Now came the hard part, the after. The victory. 

“Ben, look—” Rey said quietly as she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. They both turned to look in that direction and familiar faces looked back at them. 

“Mom?” Ben swallowed thickly.

“We’re proud of you.” Leia answered, “We’re proud of _both_ of you.” 

Luke nodded his head in agreement, “You did what I couldn’t do. What I couldn’t stop.” He looked to Ben then, a sad look in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Ben shook his head and stared at the ground. “It’s behind us.”

“Rey saw what I was too blind to see.” Luke continued, “The future may be uncertain, but I know you can guide one another.”

“Formed, a new order must be. Light and dark, balanced at last.” Said another Force Ghost, one that Rey didn’t recognize. 

“That’s what…” Rey laughed in disbelief. “That was what I thought. What I saw for us.” She looked towards Ben then, brows drawn together. “Is that what you want?”

Ben rubbed his lips together thoughtfully, giving a slight nod of his head. “ _Yes_.” He stared at the ghosts and Rey studied the way he narrowed his eyes and flexed his jaw. “Are you the reason we survived?”

“We are,” Answered one of the ghosts that Rey didn’t recognize. He somewhat reminded her of Ben — they were both tall and had unfairly good hair. And something about his features reminded her of the man beside her. “Apologies for failing to save you from this unfortunate trend in our family.” He remarked wryly as he lifted his right arm and revealed his robotic hand. 

“You’re Anakin Skywalker?” Rey questioned. 

“In the flesh.” He retorted smugly, “Well, perhaps not quite the flesh.” 

“That’s enough _Anakin_.” Remarked one of the other ghosts, rolling his eyes at Anakin. 

Leia looked to Rey then, smiling broadly at her. “Don’t be afraid of the future, Rey. You can do anything you put your mind to.” She turned to look at the other ghosts then. “I think we ought to leave them now.” 

“Wait—” Ben said and his voice cracked. “If you see dad… tell him I’m sorry.” Rey reached out and curled her fingers around his hand, squeezing it tightly. 

“I’ll be sure to tell him, Ben.” Leia answered. “May the Force be with you both.” 

* * *

Snap Wexley had relayed a message back to Ajan Kloss that Resistance forces had apprehended not one, but _two_ , First Order vessels. Poe hadn’t believed the message, despite it being the clearest signal they’d picked up. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of the Resistance gaining that sort of upper hand. Not that he hadn’t trusted Finn to deliver on his plans, but _two_ First Order vessels! It had been the sort of win he needed. 

Poe didn’t believe it until he saw it for himself. Two massive First Order vessels taking up residence on the coastline, just beyond the edge of the jungle. Swarms of Stormtroopers with helmets off and armor shed. _Victory_. 

His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for the one person who mattered in all of this. _Finn_. Poe spotted him among the throng and sprinted towards him. Finn met him halfway, nearly tackling one another in their excitement. 

“You did it!” Poe said, his voice brimming with pride as he wrapped his arms around the other man. He pressed his face into the crook of his neck and held him tight, not caring who saw. Not caring what anyone thought. He’d feared that he’d lost him. And though the threat had quickly passed, the fear still clung to his thoughts. He’d nearly lost the man he’d only just discovered he’d had. 

“We _all_ did it.” Finn countered, squeezing him tight. 

Poe pulled back a little and laughed. “Don’t sell yourself short, man. You know this was your dream.” He smiled at him. “And I don’t know how the hell you did it, but you did it. I’m so proud of you.” 

Finn seemed flustered. “It really wasn’t _just_ me.” 

“Yeah?” Poe arched a brow and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he looked around. “Don’t let anyone know, but I don’t care about anyone else.” He gently cupped Finn’s cheek and dragged him in for a kiss. 

The kiss ended far more quickly than Poe had intended it to. He had only just started to close his eyes, to really _savor_ the kiss, when he spotted Connix among the crowd. Poe pulled away from Finn, “It’s Connix.” 

“ _Shit_.” Finn hissed out as he followed after Poe. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Poe snapped, his hand hesitating at the blaster strapped to his hip. 

“I-...” Connix held up her hands. “What is all of this?”

“I’m the one asking the questions here.” 

She wilted a little. “I was hiding down here. There’s wreckage—” 

“I don’t actually care.” In the midst of everything that had happened, Poe hadn’t followed up with the information Threepio had provided him with. “Do you have any idea what you did?”

Connix stood a little taller and narrowed her eyes. “I killed Kylo Ren.” 

“No, you didn’t.” Finn remarked, his arms crossed across his chest. “He survived. But whatever you thought you were doing… you put all of us at risk.” 

She didn’t back down. “He’s a monster. Are all of you blind to that?”

Poe clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head. “He’s _not_ a monster.” He couldn’t believe he was saying it, but it was true. “That kid got lost along the way, but he’s still in there.”

“The schematics he gave Rose helped us get these ships here. We have the upper hand because of him.” Finn added. “General, what would you have me do with her?”

“If I recall, First Order ships have decent holding cells.” Poe said flatly, trying to remain as detached from the situation as possible. He hated having to punish Connix, but the truth remained — without Ben, without Rey they wouldn’t have a shot in hell of beating this. They could take down the First Order but only _they_ could take down whatever dark power lurked in the Unknown Regions. 

“General!” Sache shouted out, she stopped short of him, leaning forward on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. 

“What is it?”

She sighed heavily as she righted herself. “Two ships just dropped out of hyperspace.”

“ _Two_?” Poe’s brows furrowed. “Is it Rey?”

“I don’t recognize the other.” 

“Shit.” Poe swore under his breath. The fun just _never_ ended, did it?”

* * *

“So this is what you call home?” Cyro remarked, hands on his hips as he surveyed the beach. “I don’t know what I expected.” 

“To be honest,” Rose started. “I haven’t spent much time here. Most of my free time was spent working on new things to improve our fleet in my quarters. The base is just through the forest.” She looked towards the treeline and spotted Poe and Sache rushing back towards base. “How about I show you?”

Cyro arched a brow, “Alright.” He glanced back over his shoulder at Chewbacca. “You coming too, furbag?” 

Chewbacca let out a growl and nodded his head. He playful swung his arm at Cyro and he ducked just in time. Rose didn’t let on to the fact that she wasn’t sure _what_ they were about to be met with. 

* * *

“In retrospect, I see the merits of your Star Commuter.” Ben remarked as he tried to find a position on the floor of the TIE Fighter that was comfortable. “They’re at least _spacious_.” 

Rey glanced back over her shoulder at him, before she turned her seat around to face him. “We’re almost there.” She frowned, “How are you doing?”

Ben shrugged a shoulder. He’d certainly been _better_. “All things considered, I’m doing great.” He answered dryly. He felt like shit. He’d always been a master of harnessing his pain into something else, but none of _that_ mattered anymore. Now it was just pain that.

He sank back against the wall with a grimace. “I can feel you worrying about me.”

“You’re hurt, Ben.” Rey said with an edge to her voice. “I’m allowed to worry.”

“It’s nice. Having someone worried about me.” Ben said quietly as he readjusted the bandaging on his wounded arm. 

Rey smiled after him before she let the pilot's seat rotate back to facing forward. She was quiet for awhile, focused on flipping switches and monitoring their flight path. She mumbled to herself a few times, useless comments about the controls, which was enough to keep him from falling asleep.

“Don’t be nervous—“

“I’m not.” Ben lied. 

“There’s really nothing to worry about. They’ll accept you.”

“I’m culpable in a lot of bad things, Rey.” He reminded her, sinking back against the wall. “There’s a threshold for acceptance and I think I’ve long crossed it.” 

“Then we’ll go somewhere else.” 

“I’m not taking you away from your friends.” 

“It’s not like that.” Rey sighed heavily. “You wouldn’t be taking me away from _anything_. I’m capable of making my own choices.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “But I assure you, they’ll be welcoming.” 

Ben grumbled, “I seem to recall being shot. Is that part of the welcome party?”

“Just give them a chance.” Rey pleaded with him gently. “Poe and Finn… whatever grievances they might have with you, I know they’ll look past it for me.”

He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, his jaw set hard as he stared at the back of her head. “And what if they don’t want to give _me_ a chance?”

“Then I’ll call them out on it.” Rey said with an edge to her voice. “The Resistance is supposed to be for _everyone_.”

“I hope you’re right.” 

“So do I.” Rey added quietly as she readied the TIE for landing. “Because we’re here.” Ben braced himself against the wall as she steered the ship down to Ajan Kloss. 

* * *

“Have you seen Poe?” Finn questioned as he approached Jannah. 

“He headed off towards the tree line.” She answered. “Followed by Rose and the Wookie.”

“Huh.” Finn crossed his arms across his chest. “I should probably check on that.”

“A TIE Fighter just landed.” Jannah remarked, giving Finn a pointed look. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Finn scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. “ _Well_ ,” He cleared his throat and rocked his weight from his heels to the balls of his feet. “It’s a funny story, really. But… we’re working with Kylo Ren — or rather, Ben Solo.”

“I don’t see how that’s funny.” 

“Look, I don’t like it either.” Finn’s shoulders sagged. “But I trust Rey with my life. She believes in him and I’m willing to do the same.”

Jannah gestured around them. “And how are you going to tell them that you’ve gone to bed with the very enemy they’ve escaped?”

“I’m not making excuses for him.” Finn admitted. “But I’m willing to give him a chance.” He reached out and rested his hand on Jannah’s shoulder. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Jannah sighed heavily and stepped away from his touch. “It’s sheer dumb luck that the Resistance has succeeded at all.”

“We do alright.” Finn said with a shrug. “Think you can keep tabs on everything here, while I go see what’s going on?” 

“ _Go_.” Jannah rolled her eyes.

* * *

“What the _hell_ happened to you?” Poe questioned, hands on his hips, as he waited at the bottom of the ramp. 

“A minor inconvenience.” Ben retorted with a wry chuckle as he strolled down the ramp beside Rey. She could see straight through his bravada. His mask might’ve been long gone, but he wore a different sort of mask now. 

“You call that stump a _minor inconvenience_?” Poe widened his eyes dramatically, before he fixed Rey with a look. “Well?”

“We won.” She answered with a weary smile. “Darth Sidious is gone, once and for all.” 

Ben nodded his head as he turned to look at her. “Now we just have to defeat the First Order and then there may finally be peace in the galaxy.”

“ _Actually_ ,” Poe rubbed at the back of his neck. “Finn and Rose brought back two Star Destroyers.” 

“What?” Rey and Ben both questioned in unison. 

“Yeah.” Poe laughed. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it myself. They managed to spark an uprising among the Stormtroopers and most of the First Order officers. I know that’s not the end to the story, but it’ll help us face whatever’s waiting for us in the Unknown Regions.”

“If the First Order has taken a substantial hit, I doubt the others will make a move. Not yet. We have time.” Ben answered, his jaw clenched so tightly Rey could see the muscle tick with the effort. “And Hux?”

“Dead.” Rose answered as she emerged from the forest with Chewbacca and a stranger in tow. “He took his own life, rather than face being put down by me.” 

“Son of a bastard.” Ben muttered under his breath.

Rey moved towards Rose and hugged her. “I can’t believe you started an uprising. I mean, I can… because you’re _you_. But… wow.” 

Rose laughed and squeezed Rey tightly. “I had help from some new friends.” She pulled back and gestured to the stranger. “This is Cyro.” 

Cyro flashed Rey a fleeting smile as his eyes flickered towards Ben. “ _You_.” 

Ben lowered his gaze and shrank inwards, which was quite the feat for his towering stature. “I’m not in the mood to be berated for my past crimes. Why don’t we schedule a time to air grievances?” He sniped. 

“You weren’t kidding when you said there was a place for _everyone_ here,” Cyro remarked to Rose, before leveling Ben with a look. “My grievances were aimed at a man no longer with us. My issues with _you_ are a bit more large scale. But in the spirit of whatever the Resistance stands for, you’d do well to avoid the beach. You have two Star Destroyers filled with the people who have _grievances_ to air.” 

“Remember what I said about my welcoming party?” Ben whispered to Rey. 

Rey rolled her eyes, before she turned her gaze towards Chewbacca who lingered at the treeline. There was a history there between Ben and Chewie that she had only scratched the surface on. Ben was responsible for Han’s death, after all. And Chewie had never fully gotten over that loss.

Ben stiffened as he followed her line of view. “ _Oh_.” He breathed out, taking a step forward. “Let me.” He gave her arm a brief squeeze, before he started off across the clearing towards the Wookie. 

“Do you think he’ll tear his head off?” Poe questioned, trying to lighten the tension. “Hopefully not his other arm.”

“Shut up.” Rey snapped, swatting Poe in the arm. “You’re not funny.” 

“You’re kinda smiling. You know it was funny.”

Rey glared at him, before she glanced back towards Ben. 

The reunion was a hesitant thing. Ben moved slowly towards Chewie, like you would a feral beast. He was less sure about his steps, his shoulders sagging under an unseen weight. They were just far enough away that Rey couldn’t make out what Chewie said, but whatever Ben said in response caused the Wookie to pluck Ben up off the ground and hug him like he was nothing more than a ragdoll. 

Rey couldn’t resist herself. She reached out through their bond and basked in the joy that she felt radiating from him. This was the man she knew she could have a future with. This was the man she knew she _could_ love. The man who let down his guard and felt _everything_ rather than nothing. 

“I’m guessing you were successful?” 

“Finn!” Rey spun around and nearly tackled him, “We defeated him. And… _you_! Poe told us.” She grinned at him. “You got your uprising.”

“It’s just the beginning.” Finn said with a grin to mirror her own. “There are still Stormtroopers out there that need to be liberated.”

“There’s a lot of people out there that deserve to be free.” Rose added, her fingers curled around the necklace she wore. “We’ve taken the first steps towards that future.” 

“And we’ll make it the rest of the way,” Rey said as she looked between her friends. “ _Together_.” 

“I hope there’s room for me in that plan.” Lando Calrissian remarked as he stepped out from the treeline, leaning heavily on his walking cane. Sache trailed behind him, looking out of breath. 

“You were the other ship.” Poe remarked, pointing a finger at the man. 

Lando shrugged. “I heard that some crazy kids had commandeered two Star Destroyers, saving the Bespin System from imminent doom and figured I might want to pay respect to our saviors.” He looked towards Poe. “Was that your fancy footwork, Dameron?” 

Poe grinned proudly and gestured towards Finn. “It was all this guy. And Rose.” 

“And we couldn’t have done it without the schematics Ben gave us.” Rose added. 

Ben approached cautiously, moving to stand beside Rey. She reached out and took his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers. She could feel a tingle of nervousness through their bond. 

“Uncle Lando?” 

Lando turned, brows drawn together as he studied Ben for a long moment. “It’s good to see you again, kid. I think the last time our paths crossed, it was _Unca Wando_.” 

Ben flushed pink all the way to the tips of his ears. “What are you doing here?” He questioned. 

“Well, it sounds like we’re here to make things right in the galaxy. Figured it’s time I get involved. Better late than never.” Lando looked between the Resistance members, meeting each and every one of their gazes. “You up for that, kid?” He looked to Ben.

Ben cracked a genuine smile, “Yeah, I am.” He looked down at Rey, his eyes alight with an emotion that made her heart soar. For once there was blazing hope in his dark eyes. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.” 

**_Cue Fanfare_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end.... unless? If you're into tooth-rottingly sweet happily ever afters, the Epilogue will be posted on Wednesday. It's a nice little glimpse into the future I saw for our beloved characters. I hope you have all enjoyed this story as much as I have. It has been a cathartic experience and I'm still a little blown away that I managed to write so much. I suppose I can thank J.J. for that.


	18. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for coming along with me on this journey. I will miss this story, this universe, and everyone who has read this.

Finn considered Cloud City to be one of the most unusual cities he’d ever visited. It managed to be both ornately detailed with its fine furnishings, while also austere in its minimal white styling. He strolled along the corridor, until he reached his destination. He knocked twice, before he let himself inside. 

The quarters matched the rest of Cloud City. Awash in white, with natural light from the skylight above, smooth-lined furniture in the same cool palette. 

Poe popped his head out from the bedroom, grinning broadly when he spotted Finn. “I wasn’t expecting you until tonight.”

“I got an earlier transport out.” Finn remarked, striding across the room to greet Poe. “You sound disappointed.” He teased. 

Poe curled an arm around Finn’s waist and pulled him close. “I had _plans_.” He murmured as he leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. “And unfortunately two tedious trade negotiations this afternoon.”

“Would you like some company?” Finn offered with a hopeful smile. 

“Always.” Poe stole another kiss before he pulled away from Finn. “So, how are things in the halls of ivy?” He questioned, walking across the room to a side table where a decanter set. He popped the top off and poured two glasses. 

Finn folded his arms across his chest and shrugged. “It’s going well. We’ve been making a lot of progress with the students.” 

“ _Good_.” Poe passed him the glass of liquor. “I can barely get through the reports that Ben sends over. Is he _that_ tedious as a teacher?”

He took a sip and laughed. “He’s intense.” Finn made a face. “But it works. Rey’s very easy-going in her methods, which works in contrast with his... _style_.”

“And how are _you_ as a teacher, Master Dameron?”

Finn felt his cheeks flush hot. “I just want them to succeed. I’ve mostly been working with the children that were taken. It’s been a good partnership with Jannah. She works with deprogramming them, before I help them tap into the Force.”

“I’m proud of you.” Poe said, smirking at him over the rim of his glass. 

“You should be, _General_.” Finn said lightly. “You know, every time I come home I expect you to have adopted Lando’s taste for capes.”

Poe’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Maybe that was part of my plans for the evening.” He took another sip of his liquor, before sitting it aside. 

“If that’s the case,” Finn cocked his head to the side. “Rey owes Ben and I a few credits.”

“You’ve made bets on whether or not I’m going to wear a cape?” Poe scoffed. “That’s it, you're sleeping on the sofa tonight.”

Finn pursed his lips, thoroughly unamused. “We both know _that_ isn’t going to happen.”

“Touché.” Poe grinned and kissed Finn’s pursed lips. 

* * *

Rey perched atop a flat rock, legs crossed beneath her. Meditation came easier now that there wasn’t a struggle at the other end of the bond that tethered her to Ben. 

There was still unrest throughout the galaxy, but things had begun to heal. In the past few months, Poe’s forces had managed to destabilize the final few remaining First Order occupations and Jannah had liberated the Stormtroopers there. The academy was flourishing with new students and they used their own trauma to help strengthen a new generation. 

And in due time, the academy would grow by another two students. She just hadn’t told Ben yet. 

She wondered if he already knew. In the quiet of her mind she could hear her own heartbeat, the echo of Ben’s, and a pair of heartbeats that were _new_. A pair of heartbeats that held the promise of a new beginning. 

Rey ghosted her hand over her still-flat stomach as she opened her eyes and stared out over the turbulent sea. Peace was such an unfamiliar sensation, but she’d finally come to terms with it. No more looking over her shoulder, no more waiting for the worst. 

“You’re not planning on skipping training today, are you?” 

Rey shook her head as she rose to her feet, “And miss out an opportunity to kick your arse? _Hardly_.” She brushed past him closer than necessary, flashing him a coy look before she headed towards their makeshift training course. 

Ahch-To had become home when they weren’t at the academy. The first three months, following Darth Sidious’ defeat, had been spent on the island. Ben has needed time to get accustomed with his mechanical prosthetic, which had mostly been an excuse to escape from the heavy judgement he faced on Ajan Kloss. One Rey never commented on, even though she knew. Ahch-To had laid the groundwork for the academy — in those first few months they worked with Finn to hone his skills, to help him take hold of the latent power within him. 

Rey took the stairs two at a time as she headed down to the training course. She grabbed the combat remote and adjusted the settings. “Are you ready to lose?” 

Ben chuckled heartily as he grabbed their training staves, “Oh, I have no plans to lose today.” He remarked, passing her a staff. 

Rey sounds the staff easily in her grasp, tossing the droid into the air. It whizzed past her head, firing its first shot in Ben’s direction. He deflected the fire and Rey was quick to block it. “Then we’re at an impasse, because I don’t plan to lose either.”

Ben’s staff cut through the air as he deflected two blasts from the droid. They both ricocheted off his staff, hitting the ground with little bursts of flame. 

Rey prepped the second droid, using the Force to block a shot from the other combat remote. 

For such a towering man, Ben was surprisingly light on his feet. He moved gracefully as he dodged blasts from the droid, swinging his staff with natural ease as the second combat remote started its attack. 

Rey ducked and swept her staff across the ground to try to knock Ben off his feet, but he jumped up. His staff struck her back and she struggled a yelp of surprise. 

“Amateur mistake, Rey.” Ben taunted, spinning his staff to block a pair of blasts from the droid. 

“I’m just warming up.” Rey countered, rolling her shoulders back as she started forward. She lunged at him, staves crossing. She used the Force to block the training shot, focused on driving him back. 

Ben didn’t relent, he shoved her back and she hit the ground with a huff. “Come on, Rey. You know you’re better than this.”

Rey peeled herself off the ground and narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t won yet. Don’t get cocky.” She deflected a shot and the ricochet brushed close to his head, but it missed. 

“You’re off your game.” Ben surmised, circling her as he fought off a series of shots from the droid. “Clear your mind.”

Rey let out a primal cry as she lunged forward, striking him square across the chest with her staff. He stumbled back, blocking the droid. “There she is.” He goaded. “Thought we lost her.”

“It’s a terrible tragedy that _cocky_ suits you.” Rey hissed, driving him back again. She blocked the droid, sending the blast towards the ground. “I can never tell if I should kiss you or slap you.”

“Blame it on that Solo blood.” Ben remarked with a wry grin. “I’m open to both.”

“ _Ha_!” Rey snorted and drove the staff into the ground, using the Force to propel her up off the ground, clearing his height and landing behind him. Back-to-back they fought off the droid as the shots grew in frequency. 

“We work best together,” He stated with disarmingly charming tone. Ben reached behind him, grabbing ahold of her hip. Rey faltered in her blocking and the droid landed a shot to her shoulder. Ben took that opportunity to spin around and strike her down. 

Rey didn’t plan to go down without a fight, she hooked her leg around his thigh and dragged him down with her. 

“As tempting as this position is—“ Ben said with a smirk, breathing heavily as he lingered above her. 

She let out a nervous laugh, staring up at him. “Ben, I have something to tell you.”

His bravada faltered. “Marksman _off_.” Ben commanded the droids and they dropped to the ground abandoned. “What is it?” 

Rey started to sit up and Ben sat back on his knees. She sighed heavily and tried not to sike herself out. “Ben, I—“ She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. His brows drew together, his lips drawn into a thin line. “It’s good. I promise.” 

“ _Rey_.”

She reached out and touched his cheek, brushing her thumb over the rise of his cheekbone. “I’m pregnant.” It came out far too easily. Like a breath she’s been keeping. 

Ben goes through several stages of shock right before her eyes. Lips parted with surprise and then flouncing for words. Brows rising upwards before being drawn together with confusion. “ _What_?” He croaked out.

Rey’s cheeks flushed hot and she sank back against the ground. “I’m pregnant.” She whispered, taking the hand he has planted on the ground by her hip and bringing it to rest at her stomach. “You’re going to be a father.”

Ben sat back on his knees, his eyes fixed on her stomach. “I knew it.” He whispered. “I had these dreams, but I thought…” He snapped out of his thoughts and glared at her. “We shouldn’t be training like this! You should be resting!”

“ _Ben Solo_ ,” Rey gritted out as she sat up. “You’re not going to treat me like I’m breakable just because I’m pregnant.” The thought seemed so antiquated and ridiculous to her. Just because she was carrying their children, didn’t mean she had to sit around and do _nothing_. “Our students need me.”

“So does our child.”

“ _Children_.” 

Ben suddenly seemed paler than he naturally was. “We’re having twins?”

Rey chewed on her bottom lip, nodding her head slowly. “Surprise?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face and laughed awkwardly. “Rey, I’m so…” Ben looked at her with such adoration that she swore it made her heart skip a beat. “Marry me.”

She made a face. 

“ _Please?”_

“You’re so old fashioned.” Rey teased, moving towards him on her knees. She reached out and played her fingers through his hair. 

“If Poe and Finn can get married—“

“They got married because Poe was tired of having people suggest he get married to form alliances.” Rey pursed her lips. “We don’t have to get married to have children.”

Ben arched a brow at her. “Did you purposefully tune out Finn’s near-constant rambling about how badly he wanted to get married?”

“ _Maybe_.” Rey scrunched you her nose. “I’m impressed you listened.”

“I’m impressed you didn’t hear him.” He widened his eyes dramatically. “It doesn’t have to be some big event. Just you and me and…”

Rey giggled and gestured towards a porg that was waddling it’s way through their training area. “And the progs and the caretakers?”

“I was thinking Naboo.” Ben suggested. “Just you and me and the officiant.”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re old fashioned.” Rey pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek. “You’re so stoic and serious.”

“ _Rey_.”

She sighed dramatically. “Fine.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” Rey grinned at him and laughed as he leaned in to kiss her excitedly. She cupped his cheek and let her fingers slide into his hair. “Why is this so important to you?” She questioned. “We already live like we’re married.”

“I want to give you my name, Rey.”

Rey blinked. “ _Oh_.”

“You always flounder when you’re asked. We live like we’re married, but you never know if you should use it. I want to give that to you.”

“Rey Solo.” She smiled from ear-to-ear and he mirrored her expression with unmitigated joy. “But,” Rey started. “I’m not going to take it easy until I have to. I’m pregnant, not injured.”

“ _Fine_.” Ben rolled his eyes. 

* * *

Rose found that she always felt rather out of place at these meetings. She was better suited for wearing grungy overalls to work on updating a ship’s propulsion systems, rather than wearing her best governance robes for a trade meeting. A _tedious_ trade meeting, no less. 

Despite the First Order’s near-extinction throughout the galaxy, several of the previously occupied territories held fast to their First Order functions — mostly out of fear that the First Order would return once more and devastate their systems. 

“You know they won’t say no.” Cyro remarked, his head cocked to the side as he regarded her. “Don’t worry.”

She pursed her lips and gave him a look. “There is every reason to worry. Corellia might be interested in my designs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they'll pull the blockade on their trade routes.”

“If they’re smart they will.” He offered, his hand resting at the small of her back as they moved through the crowd of overzealous leaders as they waited outside the negotiations hall. “Tico schematics are quite sought after I’ve heard.”

She rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. “Only because Lando and Poe have been shmoozing everyone.”

Cyro shook his head as he ran his hand over her back. “Their shmoozing only works because people _know_ they’re getting quality work. Don’t undersell yourself.”

Rose’s fingers curled around her necklace instinctively, smoothing her thumb over the curve of the medallion. Her eyes scanned the room, her expression lighting up when she spotted Finn beside Poe. “Now we know why Poe was late.” She remarked to Cyro, before she made her way through the crowd. “Finn!” She shouted, tackling him with a hug. 

Finn laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Miss me?”

“Of course.” Rose pulled back and grinned at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I came home for the weekend.” Finn explained, gesturing towards Poe. “Figured I could suffer through one of these meetings.”

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Rose said as her feet touched the ground once more. “Now I have someone to make faces at.” 

Cyro clapped Finn on the shoulder. “Good to see you again.” 

“You too.” Finn nodded his head. “How’s the outlook for the meeting today?”

Cyro shrugged a shoulder. “I’m feeling optimistic.” He gave Rose a pointed look. 

“Corellia has renowned mechanics of their own.” Rose folded her arms across her chest. “I just don’t see them lifting the blockade because of my work.”

Poe inserted himself into their conversation. “You said the same thing when it came to sorting out the Jinata System and the odds were stacked against us.”

Rose made a face and steered the conversation away from herself. She didn’t do the work she did for praise. She enjoyed creating new tech that improved vessel functions — it just so happened it played into making alliances now. “How’s Rey?” She questioned Finn.

“Oh. _Uh_.” Finn cleared his throat nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. “She’s good.”

Rose arched a brow. “Care to elaborate?”

“Well—“ Finn looked between the three of them. “It’s just she’s…” He shifted his weight from his toes to his heels and back again. 

“Spit it out.” Poe’s hands went to his hips as he eyed his partner. 

“She told me not to tell anyone.”

“Now you _have_ to tell us.”

Cyro was quick to back Rose up, “There’s a law here that mandates it”

Finn groaned. “I came home early because she had made plans to tell Ben this weekend. He doesn’t even know yet.”

“Oh!” Rose’s brows shot upwards. “That’s wonderful news.”

Cyro and Poe exchanged looks. “I’m not following.” Poe quipped. 

Finn lowered his voice, “Rey’s… you _know_.” He gestured vaguely to his stomach. 

Cyro nodded his head, “ _Ah_. That’s exciting.”

“ _What_?” Poe looked confused. “Will someone just say it?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Rey’s pregnant.”

Finn nodded his head. 

Poe pursed his lips, still looking confounded. “And you got _that_ out Finn’s vague explanation?” 

She shrugged. “That’s exciting though. Will she keep teaching?”

“She plans to.” Finn answered with a smile. “The students really adore her.” 

Poe clicked his tongue against his teeth, before he fixed Rose with a look. “You ready for this?”

Rose stood a little taller. “Let’s go convince Corellia to be on the right side of history.” 

* * *

_One day when you’re a father, you’ll understand that this shit is hard_. _But it’s worth it_. Even if you give more than you’ll ever get back. No offense. 

His parents had been snipping at one another throughout most of the day. Even at a young age he’d known what it was going on. When Han and Leia were at their worst, they were a wildfire that could set everyone around them ablaze. 

Han had convinced Leia to let him take Ben for a ride in the Millennium Falcon — some of his fondest memories that had sparked his desire for being a pilot. Chewie had gone to Kashyyk, which meant Han only had Ben to vent to. 

His mother was too focused on politics. Han didn’t understand his abilities. Luke had offered to train him. And Snoke was there, working to twist every revelation Han shared with him. 

If things had been different, Ben was certain Han could’ve been an incredible father. But his self doubts led to him being a mostly absent father. 

He didn’t want to be like Han Solo. He didn’t want to be the type of father who was only there when things were _good_. Not that he could even wrap his head around the fact that he was going to be a father.

Did he _deserve_ it?

How could he hold his children in his arms and know that he was part of the reason some people never saw their children again? How could he let his children look into his eyes and have them know that those were the eyes of a murderer? The happiest day of his life was painted with a blood-red brush. 

“Ben—“ 

Rey’s voice broke through his thoughts and he frowned as he looked back at her. He blinked twice, before his eyes truly focused on her concerned expression. 

“There’s a storm coming.” She warned him as she drew her shawl around her shoulders as the brisk wind threatened to rip it out of her hands. 

He shook his head a little, snapping out of his stupor as he rose to his feet. “ _Right,_ ” Ben said quietly as he walked down the stony path and took Rey’s hand into his. 

The sky had turned from a bright blue morning, into a stormy grey evening, the sea surrounding the island choppy and unsettled. Much like he felt inside. 

“Are you _not_ happy?” Rey questioned quietly as they walked side-by-side towards their little hovel. 

“No am I.”

“You know I can feel how you feel, right?” She pressed. “I know that you’re _not_ happy.”

“I’m not _not_ happy.” Ben assured her. “I’m just processing everything.”

Rey chewed on her bottom lip, staring straight ahead. “I am excited about marrying you. I was just being difficult—“

“It’s not that.”

“Oh.”

Ben regretted it instantly the moment he caught her hand passing in front of her stomach. “I’m happy Rey. I am.”

She gave him a skeptical look and he didn’t blame her. 

“Nearly three years ago you and I were on opposite sides of a bloody war, Rey. The galaxy will have one version of the story to teach our children. Reconciling that side of myself is a constant struggle. A struggle I will have to tell our children.”

“You’ve had no issue with explaining it to our students.” Rey reminded him, squeezing his hand tightly. “And they adore you.” 

Ben hung his head. “I just don’t want to make the same mistakes my father made.”

“You _won’t_.” She reached for his other hand, the robotic hand that served as his left hand. Rey carefully interlaced their fingers and he curled the fingers around her hand. “We’re going to figure this out on our own. Make our own mistakes.”

Ben’s heartbeat quickened as he looked down at her upturned face. “I am happy.” He whispered, leaning down to kiss her. “Terrified, but happy.”

“You’ve already proven that you can be the fatherly type with our students. You’ve got this.” She reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Ben whispered. 

Just on the horizon, the twin suns slipped out of view as the storm rolled in. They ran for their hovel, darting in between the raindrops as they fell. The rain couldn’t wash away his past, but tucked away safely in the hovel with Rey — he was reminded that the _hope_ of a bright new future was a precious thing. 

**Fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> Attention is the balm that soothes my soul. Just kidding! I love comments and questions, but you are under no obligation to do either! I just hope you enjoyed reading!


End file.
